Honk News (Wichita, KS) – A 35-year-old man has received a 4.5-year prison sentence for abandoning his infant in the I-135 canal located in south Wichita.
On Thursday, Judge Tyler Roush handed down a sentence of 54 months to Vincent Perez, along with two years of post-release supervision, according to the Sedgwick County district attorney’s office. In December, he entered a guilty plea for charges of aggravated child endangerment and aggravated battery.
In the early morning hours of July 23, 2024, officers were approached by two individuals near Harry and Hydraulic who reported witnessing a man leave his child behind before entering Linwood Park.
A gas station employee, who witnessed the event, informed the officer that the man had been inside the gas station for approximately an hour before the incident occurred. Another observer stated he noticed the individual heading towards the park and decided to approach him. The individual allegedly brandished a small axe or hatchet and instructed the observer to distance themselves from the child.
An officer conducted a search in Linwood Park and discovered a stroller overturned on a slope to the north of the Harry Street underpass prior to I-135. The officer continued down the path beside Harry and discovered a baby carrier along with a lunch box that held a wrench inside.
On July 23, just before 2 p.m., approximately 12 hours after the infant was last observed, a woman contacted 911 to inform them that she had seen a young child in the I-135 canal close to Pawnee.
“I saw a lifelike doll. I’m like, ‘That’s interesting.’ And then the next thing I know, it threw its hands up. I’m like, ‘That’s not a doll, that is a real-life baby.’ So I shuffle over to the right lane to the shoulder and call 911 and the cops came out in enormous force,” said Vickie Wyant, who located the baby. “I mean, I was so nervous. I didn’t know if the baby was okay, how long it’s been down there. It just had a diaper on.”
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A minor has been placed under protective care. An examination at Wesley Medical Center uncovered 29 injuries, primarily consisting of bruises.
Prerez was taken into custody on July 24 and has remained incarcerated since that date.