Wichita police say shortly before 11:30 a.m. Thursday, a brief fistfight broke out in an alley east of Lincoln & Edgemoor, near Wichita Southeast high school. The fight involved a pair of rival gangs, and two or three people were involved.
After the fight, eight individuals from one side, all students at Southeast, got into a gray Chrysler; seven or eight people from the other side of the fight got into a Lincoln Navigator. The two cars chased each other through a residential neighborhood, then east-bound on Lincoln, at speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour. The Chrysler was trying to run the Navigator off the road, and the Navigator was trying to stop the Chrysler so the fight could resume.
The Chrysler went out of control west of Lincoln & Woodlawn, crashing into a tree. A 16-year-old girl in the front seat, Yadira Villa, tried to get out of the car. The driver, trying to leave the scene, put the car in reverse, then drove forward; Villa was caught on the door as she tried to exit, dragged underneath the car, and killed.
Both cars were driven by 16-year-old boys, who are both gang-members; they were booked into Youth Residence Hall. The driver of the Chrysler was booked for felony murder, and the driver of the Navigator was booked for involuntary manslaughter.
The case will be presented next week to the District Attorney's office for formal charges.
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