KANSAS CITY, Kan. — In the six weeks since 38-year-old Ricardo Salazar was shot and killed, there was a high speed chase, a crash and a carjacking.
His brother, 34-year-old Ricky Salazar, was captured Sept. 30, court records say, and charged Monday in his older brother’s death.
Ricardo Salazar’s daughters said they were on the hunt the entire way in partnership with U.S. Marshals, looking for justice for their dad.
Versaeli and Sisali Salazar couldn’t believe it when they got the news their dad had been shot.
“He was hard working. He was a really good dad, too,” 12-year-old Versaili said.
“We are so young. I’m only 17 and she’s 12. I never thought the day would come this soon,” her sister Sisali said.
They spent more than a month by his side after the Aug. 15 shooting in the 8700 block of State Avenue, learning the suspect was Salazar’s little brother Ricky.
Ricky Salazar (Photo courtesy Wyandotte County Jail)
FOX4 learned they got in an argument when Ricky wanted to store stolen property at his brother’s home.
“People did not like him, and it put my dad in danger and I told my dad. But my dad was such a big-hearted person he would tell me, ‘no Sisali, it’s OK, he’s going to change,'” Sisali said.
Once Ricardo Salazar died Sept. 23, his daughters turned their attention to their Uncle Ricky, who hadn’t been seen since.
“My mom came into town, and we all went out in the streets looking for him. We weren’t going to sit down and rest peacefully until we knew he was found,” Sisali said.
“A mother’s instinct, you want to protect your kids. You see them hurting, and the only way you can help their hurt is to put the person who did this behind bars,” the girls’ mother and the victim’s ex-wife Cassie Ojeda said.
They started using detective skills to figure who he might be staying with and put up wanted posters. Tips to the U.S. Marshals led to an arrest of at least one person suspected of harboring Salazar.
The mom and daughters were right there recording the moment.
“We were on him every move he made. We were zoning in on him,” Ojeda said.
There was a high speed chase and a crash; Salazar carjacked a woman in a Lexus to get away. But his pursuers didn’t give up, supplying a final tip that led to his capture.
“To know that we did it and gave our dad peace was a really nice feeling,” Versaili said.
They didn’t get a chance to speak to their uncle when he was caught, but know what they planned to say.
“We won’t ever get our dad, we won’t get him back. We won’t have anybody to walk us down the aisle when we grow up. He won’t be there for our graduation or any of our stuff. I just want him to realize what he’s taken from us,” Sisali said.
Ricky Salazar is charged with second-degree murder of his brother and domestic battery of his mother. He’s also charged with aggravated robbery from the carjacking and other charges related to him having a gun while he was on probation for previous aggravated robbery charges. He’s being held on $250,000 bond.
