FORD COUNTY —After seven days of evidence and testimony and approximately five hours of deliberations, a Ford County jury found 39-year-old Ricardo Cadena-Garcia guilty of two counts of second-degree intentional murder in the shooting deaths of Abraham Morales-Santos and Antonio Cabrera, according to a media release from the Ford County Attorney's office.
The jury also found Cadena-Garcia guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter as to Austin Zink and reckless battery as to Adam Murley.
All charges stem from a multiple-fatality shooting that took place at a Halloween-themed party inside Central Station Bar and Grill in October of 2023.
Shortly after 1:20 a.m. on October 29, 2023, Dodge City Police Department responded to multiple 911 calls regarding a shooting that had just occurred. Upon arrival, officers discovered Morales-Santos and Cabrera inside Central Station with multiple gunshot wounds. Both were pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
A third person, Adam Murley, suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg from an errant round that had been fired. Austin Zink, a security officer working for Central Station, also suffered critical injuries after he had attempted to detain the shooter in Central Station’s parking lot and was shot multiple times in the process.
Cadena-Garcia was quickly identified as the shooter. He was arrested later in the day on October 29, 2023, when Beaver County, Oklahoma, law enforcement officers discovered him attempting to fix a flat tire on his truck. Cadena-Garcia was taken into custody without further incident.
At trial, Cadena-Garcia claimed he shot and killed Morales-Santos and Cabrera out of self-defense, believing the two were acting in concert with others inside Central Station to severely injure or kill him in retaliation for a 2020 incident in which Cadena-Garcia got into an altercation with Norteno gang members.
Dr. Christy Blanchard, a Lawrence-based forensic psychologist, testified for the defense, stating that Cadena-Garcia suffered posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety as a result of this 2020 incident, leading him to view the world as unsafe.
In returning its verdicts, the jury rejected Cadena-Garcia’s claim of self-defense as to both Morales-Santos and Cabrera. Specifically, the jury found that at the time of the shootings, Cadena-Garcia did not have a reasonable or honest belief that he was in danger of great bodily harm or death from either men. However, the jury did believe that Cadena-Garcia did have an unreasonable but sincere belief he was in danger of serious injury or death when he shot Austin Zink.
Unlike first-degree murder, which requires evidence of both intent and premeditation, second-degree intentional murder only requires proof that the defendant intended to cause the death of his victims.
Ford County Attorney Kevin B. Salzman and Chief Deputy Ford County Attorney Eliza Kassebaum prosecuted the case. Cadena-Garcia was defended by attorneys Gary Owens and Jeremy Koop, both of Wichita.
County Attorney Salzman said in a statement, “This case could not have been possible without the long hours and tireless efforts of our law enforcement partners at the Dodge City Police Department, Ford County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Specifically, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Chief Jerad Goertzen and his personnel for their thorough investigation into the circumstances of this tragedy as well as Sheriff Bill Carr for his personnel’s efforts in providing courthouse security throughout this trial.
“I also want to thank my staff, including Chief Deputy Kassebaum, Victim Services Director Idania Muniz, legal secretaries Karla Garcia and Elena Neufeld, and our legal interns Alejandra Villagrana Lozano, Estie Barngrover, Andrea Morales, and Elizabeth Cox. All provided invaluable and insightful services that helped our office achieve this result and hold Cadena-Garcia accountable for his actions.
“I extend my deepest sympathies to the families of Abraham and Antonio, as well as to Austin and Adam, for the trauma this terrible tragedy inflicted upon them. I am hopeful that today’s verdict will offer some measure of peace, however small, knowing that the defendant did not escape responsibility.
“Finally, I appreciate the jury’s service in this case and their careful attention to the evidence presented to them over the course of seven days. Jury duty is essential to our criminal justice system, and the hardships of jury service are real. Their attention, and good-faith efforts to arrive at unanimous verdicts are valuable.”
Cadena-Garcia remains housed at the Ford County Detention Center. He will be sentenced at a later date following the completion of a presentence investigation report.