Kansas City, Kansas man sentenced to life without parole in triple murder
A Kansas City, Kansas man received a life sentence without the possibility of parole Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to killing a mother and her two children and setting fire to their home in December 2019.
Ismael Caballero, 33, was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Yazmin Rodriguez-Santilla and capital murder in the killings of her daughter Amerikha Rodriguez, 14, and her son Jean Carlo Rodriguez, 10, according to the Wyandotte District Attorney’s Office.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2019, Caballero killed Rodriguez-Santilla and then her children to prevent them from testifying against him, authorities alleged. He then set the home on fire to destroy evidence that could have linked him to the killings, authorities alleged.
The Star reported in 2020 that firefighters were out on another call when they smelled smoke and responded to a house fire around 4:35 a.m. that day near North Mill Street and Ridge Avenue. Firefighters found the mother and her children.
Police took Caballero into custody later that morning.
