WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A Wichita man stood in court on Friday and heard his sentence from a judge for a 2021 shooting that took the life of one person at a restaurant in Jan. 2021.
Adrian Nicholas Zongker, 27, will serve 50 years in prison with the possibility of parole. He will have to serve another 15-month sentence that runs after his 50 years for a felon in possession of a firearm charge.
A jury found Zongker guilty of second-degree murder in May. He pleaded guilty to the felon in possession of a firearm charge in April, according to Sedgwick County officials.
Police say on Jan. 14, 2021, officers were dispatched to a shooting call at the Birrieria Tito Tacos Mexican restaurant. When they arrived, they found 42-year-old Oscar Acosta-Chavez suffering from a gunshot wound to his chest.
Acosta-Chavez was pronounced dead at the scene.
An affidavit shows witnesses provided a description to officers, and a suspect, later identified as Zongker, was found nearby.
As officers approached Zongker, he threw a bag on the ground, put his hands in the air, and said, “I did it, I did it … the gun’s in the bag.” Zongker was then taken into custody.
The bag that he threw on the ground contained a handgun with a cartridge casing partially ejected.
Witnesses say Zongker ate at the restaurant, left, and then returned shortly afterward looking for a receipt. He began looking through the trash can near the front doors, and one of the restaurant staff asked him to stop.
The affidavit says Acosta-Chavez took the trash can outside, and he and Zongker went out the front door. Shortly thereafter, witnesses heard a gunshot. Acosta-Chavez ran back into the restaurant and told everyone to get in the back of the store because Zongker had a gun.
Acosta-Chavez collapsed on the ground near the kitchen.
Another employee, Acosta-Chavez’s son, ran outside and fought Zongker. Zongker then grabbed the gun and ran.
Court documents say Acosta-Chavez’s son told officers he was in the alley when he heard the gunshot. He ran in, saw his father on the floor, and ran at the suspect because he feared Zongker would shoot the other people in the restaurant.
He tackled Zongker and punched him “multiple times.” When Zongker ran away, Acosta-Chavez’s son returned to the restaurant and tried to save his father by putting pressure on his wound.