The 27-year-old mother had called 911 before the fatal attack at a west Wichita apartment, police said.
WICHITA, Kan. — Sinay Y. Leon-Montoya had moved to the United States, worked in Wichita and was raising two young sons before prosecutors said the children’s father killed her inside their apartment.
The criminal case in her death is now moving toward sentencing. Edward A. Millan-Volcan, 26, pleaded guilty May 29 to first-degree felony murder and attempted first-degree murder in Sedgwick County District Court. Prosecutors said the convictions by plea stem from the July 17, 2025, killing of Leon-Montoya, 27, and the attack on Germany Torres Figueroa. Judge Kevin Smith is scheduled to sentence Millan-Volcan on July 16. The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said he faces a minimum of 38 years and nine months in the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Leon-Montoya’s final afternoon began away from the apartment where she died. Wichita police said she called 911 at about 2:17 p.m. from the 6300 block of West Kellogg Drive to report a disturbance. The police department later said a language barrier made communication with dispatchers difficult. Reporting that cited an affidavit said she told the dispatcher that Millan-Volcan had been hitting and choking her and had threatened to kill her and her children. She left the West Kellogg location and returned to the apartment on West Par Lane. The affidavit account said she returned because of something involving one of her children.
The second call to police came about 17 minutes after the first. Around 2:34 p.m., officers responded to a domestic disturbance at the apartment in the 6800 block of West Par Lane. Police said they found a woman outside with injuries that appeared to come from a stab or cut wound. She was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. Inside, officers found Leon-Montoya with stab wounds. She was also taken to a hospital, but she was pronounced dead. Officers found Millan-Volcan inside the apartment and took him into custody without incident, according to the police department’s initial release.
Authorities said the attack took place in a bedroom. Investigators found Leon-Montoya on the bedroom floor near a three-inch scratch awl. Officials said she had been stabbed more than 60 times. The medical examiner found wounds to her chest, neck, arms, back and head. Authorities said 21 wounds penetrated her heart and lungs. Torres Figueroa, identified by prosecutors as the surviving victim, was hurt in the same attack. Police first described her as a friend of Leon-Montoya. Later reporting said she tried to stop the killing and was injured while intervening. Officials have not released a full account from her.
The children were present, police said. That fact appeared in the Wichita police statement released the day after the homicide. Later reports said the children were Leon-Montoya and Millan-Volcan’s two young sons. Police and prosecutors have not publicly released the boys’ names, ages or current living arrangements. Initial booking information listed two counts of aggravated child endangerment among the suspicions against Millan-Volcan, along with kidnapping-related counts. Those counts did not remain after the plea deal. The official plea announcement focused on first-degree felony murder and attempted first-degree murder.
Leon-Montoya’s life before the case has been described in public memorial and local news accounts. She was born in Venezuela and moved to the United States in 2023. She lived in New York before coming to Kansas. She worked as a shift manager at a McDonald’s restaurant in the Wichita area. Local reporting said she had come to the United States seeking a better life for her sons. Police said she was trying to end her relationship with Millan-Volcan when she died. Some reports described him as her estranged husband, though the district attorney’s release did not use that description.
The July 2025 arrest brought several possible charges. Police said Millan-Volcan was 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 later plea agreement dismissed the kidnapping and child endangerment counts. The remaining convictions still leave Millan-Volcan facing decades in prison. Prosecutors said District Attorney Marc Bennett and Assistant District Attorney Sophia Brunetti handled the case. Wichita police investigated the homicide under case No. 25C128546. The district attorney’s office announced the plea in a short release dated May 29.
The known timeline leaves several public questions unanswered. Officials have not released the full 911 audio, a complete dispatch timeline or a detailed explanation of what happened between the first call and the second police response. Police did say communication on the first call was difficult because of the language barrier. They also said Leon-Montoya returned to the apartment before the fatal stabbing. The public record does not say whether any officer reached the West Kellogg location before the Par Lane call or whether dispatchers understood the full scope of the alleged threats during the first call.
The sentencing hearing is expected to be the next time the case returns to public view. Because Millan-Volcan pleaded guilty, a jury will not hear testimony about the attack unless another proceeding develops. The July 16 hearing may include statements about Leon-Montoya’s life, Torres Figueroa’s injuries and the children who were present. Judge Smith will decide the sentence under Kansas law. Prosecutors have already said the minimum term is 38 years and nine months, placing Millan-Volcan on course for a sentence measured in decades.
For now, the case stands as a guilty plea in a homicide that began with a call for help and ended at an apartment about 3 miles away. Sentencing is scheduled for July 16 in Sedgwick County District Court, nearly one year after Leon-Montoya was killed.
Author note: Last updated July 6, 2026.