Police said a language barrier complicated the first emergency call before Sinay Leon-Montoya returned to the apartment where she was killed.
WICHITA, Kan. — Seventeen minutes passed between Sinay Y. Leon-Montoya’s first 911 call from West Kellogg Drive and the next police response to a Par Lane apartment where she was found fatally stabbed.
That short span now sits at the center of a Sedgwick County murder case that no longer appears headed for trial. Edward A. Millan-Volcan, 26, pleaded guilty May 29 to first-degree felony murder and attempted first-degree murder. Prosecutors said the pleas cover the July 17, 2025, killing of Leon-Montoya, 27, and the attack on Germany Torres Figueroa. The district attorney’s office said Millan-Volcan faces at least 38 years and nine months in prison when he is sentenced July 16 before Judge Kevin Smith.
Leon-Montoya’s first emergency call came at about 2:17 p.m. from the 6300 block of West Kellogg Drive. Wichita police said she was reporting a disturbance, but the call was not simple. A police release said a language barrier made communication with dispatchers difficult. Reporting that cited an affidavit said Leon-Montoya told dispatchers that Millan-Volcan had been hitting and choking her and had threatened to kill her and her children. Before police could meet her there, she said she needed to go back to the apartment because of something involving one of her children. The apartment was on the 6800 block of West Par Lane, about 3 miles away.
By about 2:34 p.m., officers were sent to the Par Lane apartment for a domestic disturbance report. Police said they found a woman outside with injuries that matched a stab or cut wound. She was taken to a hospital, and police said her injuries were not life-threatening. Inside the apartment, officers found Leon-Montoya with stab wounds. She was also taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Officers found Millan-Volcan inside and took him into custody without incident. Police said investigators learned that young children shared by Leon-Montoya and the suspect were present during the incident.
The apartment became both the crime scene and the place where investigators pieced together the final part of the afternoon. Authorities said Leon-Montoya had been forced into a bedroom with her children and Torres Figueroa before the stabbing. Investigators found Leon-Montoya on the bedroom floor near a three-inch scratch awl. The tool is a small pointed instrument, but officials said it caused extensive injuries. The medical examiner found more than 60 puncture wounds to Leon-Montoya’s chest, neck, arms, back and head. Authorities said 21 of the wounds penetrated her heart and lungs. The public record does not show that police recovered any firearm or larger weapon connected to the killing.
Torres Figueroa survived and later became the named victim in the attempted murder count. Police first described her as a 25-year-old Wichita woman and a friend of Leon-Montoya. Reports later said she tried to stop the attack and was hurt as she intervened. Police said she was stable after being hospitalized. Prosecutors named her as Germany Torres Figueroa in the May 29 plea announcement. The case file described one fatal attack and one nonfatal attack during the same episode. Officials have not released a full statement from Torres Figueroa, and the public record does not say whether she is expected to speak at sentencing.
The children’s presence made the case broader than a killing between adults. Wichita police said investigators learned that the suspect and Leon-Montoya had young children who were present. Later reports said the children were the couple’s two young sons. Initial booking information included two counts of aggravated child endangerment, along with kidnapping-related counts. Those charges were dismissed under the plea agreement, while the murder and attempted murder counts remained. Prosecutors have not publicly described what support, services or custody arrangements followed for the children. Their names and ages have not been released in the official police account.
Leon-Montoya’s path to Wichita has been described through local reporting and obituary information. She was born in Venezuela and moved to the United States in 2023. She lived in New York before moving to Kansas. She worked as a shift manager at McDonald’s. Reports said she had moved in search of a better life for her sons. Police said she was trying to end the relationship with Millan-Volcan when she died. Some public accounts described him as her estranged husband. The district attorney’s office identified him as a Wichita man and did not describe the relationship status in its short plea release.
Millan-Volcan was initially booked on suspicion of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of aggravated child endangerment. The plea agreement narrowed the case but secured admissions to the two violent felony counts tied to Leon-Montoya and Torres Figueroa. The district attorney’s office said the plea was entered in Sedgwick County District Court before Judge Smith. District Attorney Marc Bennett and Assistant District Attorney Sophia Brunetti handled the prosecution, and the Wichita Police Department handled the investigation. The police department listed the case under No. 25C128546.
The case also turned attention to the first emergency call. Police did not say in the July 2025 release how long the call lasted, what language Leon-Montoya spoke or whether an interpreter was brought onto the line. The department did say communication was difficult and that Leon-Montoya left the West Kellogg location before the fatal attack. The known timeline is narrow. At 2:17 p.m., she called from West Kellogg. Around 2:34 p.m., police were called to Par Lane. Between those points, she returned to the apartment and was attacked. Officials have not released a complete dispatch log or audio transcript.
Judge Smith is scheduled to sentence Millan-Volcan on July 16. The district attorney’s office said the minimum sentence is 38 years and nine months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. The plea means the sentencing hearing, not a jury trial, will be the next major public step. The court may hear statements about Leon-Montoya, Torres Figueroa and the children before imposing the final term.
Author note: Last updated July 6, 2026.