25 years ago on this night (2000) was the second incident in a crime spree by the Carr brothers in E. Wichita. Three days earlier, the Carrs had robbed, assaulted, and car-jacked former Wichita State baseball player Andy Schreiber, who survived the violent attack.
The next case in the crime spree happened at about 9:40 p.m. on December 11, 2000, taking place in the driveway of Ann Walenta's home on Dublin Court in E. Wichita, not far from Central & Rock Road.
Walenta, a cellist with the Wichita Symphony, was arriving home from practice in her GMC Yukon. As she turned into one of the side streets near her home, she noticed a newer, light-colored, four-door Honda-type vehicle turn behind her.
The car followed Walenta's Yukon as she turned into her street, a dead end with a cul-de-sac.
A man approached her in her driveway, saying he needed help. Walenta rolled down her window a few inches, and the man immediately pointed a handgun through the window at her head. Walenta tried to start her Yukon, which ground the starter gear because the car was already running. The man then told Walenta not to move the Yukon, but Walenta shifted into reverse. When she did, the man shot her.
A neighbor across the street called police; the Yukon was still running, its horn honking and lights flashing; its driver's-side window had shattered, and Walenta was slumped backward in the driver's seat.
Walenta suffered three gunshot wounds, and one of the bullets severed her spinal cord, rendering her paraplegic; she was able to give suspect descriptions to police detectives. She began recovering during her stay in the hospital and was scheduled to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility on January 2, 2001. That day, however, Walenta suffered a pulmonary embolus (blood clots in her legs)—a complication of her paralysis—and died, three weeks after she was shot in her driveway.