On January 6, 2018, a property dispute in the 1500 block of West Merton in Wichita turned deadly when 20-year-old Jeremy Burdine, a Black male, was shot after he and another 20-year-old, Ky E. Jones Jr., reportedly tried to force their way into a residence. The resident, 18-year-old Skyler David Ryce, fired multiple shots through the door; both Burdine and Jones were struck and later died at a local hospital. An autopsy found Burdine had been shot in the chest.

Wichita Police investigated and concluded the shooting was an act of self-defense, and no charges were filed against Ryce in the deaths. The case was submitted to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office for review. Ryce was arrested at the scene on unrelated burglary charges after officers found stolen property in his home; authorities said those items were not the property at issue in the dispute. This incident was recorded as Wichita’s first two homicides of 2018 and noted amid an increase in self-defense killings that year.

Did anyone in the area witness what happened at the house on West Merton that afternoon?