On the night of December 14–15, 2000, 27-year-old Brad Heyka was among five friends held at gunpoint after two men forced their way into a home in east Wichita. Over several hours the victims were robbed, sexually assaulted, and driven to multiple ATMs. In the early hours of December 15 the group was taken to a snow-covered soccer field, forced to kneel, and shot in the back of the head. Brad Heyka, Jason Befort, Aaron Sander, and Heather Muller were killed at the scene. A fifth victim survived after a plastic hair clip deflected a bullet; she ran more than a mile for help and later provided key testimony and a description that led police to two brothers, Reginald and Jonathan Carr, within hours.

The Carr brothers were arrested and charged in connection with a week-long crime spree that also included another robbery and the murder of a 55-year-old woman days earlier. They were tried and convicted on multiple counts, including rape, kidnapping, robbery, and four counts of capital murder for the deaths of Heyka and the three others, and were sentenced to death in 2002. Does anyone have information about Brad Heyka’s life in Wichita or knew him and can share memories that might help document his story?