PAOLA, Kan. — A Carthage man was sentenced to 10 years and three months in prison for the murder of his wife at a hearing Monday in Miami County District Court in Paola.
Gavino McJunkins-Macias, 24, of Carthage, pleaded guilty in February to one count of second-degree murder, unintentional but reckless, in the death of Kenia Lopez, 24, of Carthage.
Macias was originally charged with second-degree murder for intentionally killing Lopez.
He was sentenced Monday by Miami County Chief Judge Amy Harth.
Officials say the killing happened June 13, 2024, in Louisburg, Kansas, and McJunkins-Macias put Lopez’s body in a camper trailer and drove it to the industrial area at the north end of North Main Street in Carthage.
Jasper County Coroner James Harrison said Tuesday that an autopsy showed that Lopez died of stab wounds.
McJunkins-Macias still faces charges of abandoning a corpse in Jasper County with pretrial motions set for 9 a.m. Monday, April 21, before Judge Joseph Hensley in Joplin.
Carthage police arrested McJunkins-Macias after he called 911 and reported that his wife’s dead body could be found in the camper at 600 N. Main St.
Officials said McJunkins brought the camper with Lopez’s body in it from Kansas to Carthage and parked it around 7 a.m. He left it parked there for several hours before calling 911, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed in Jasper County Circuit Court with the charge of abandonment of a corpse.
Carthage police Chief Bill Hawkins said at the time of McJunkins-Macias’ arrest that Carthage investigators called the Miami County Sheriff’s Office when they learned he has just returned from that county where he was working on a construction job.
Further investigation led to a warrant for second-degree murder being issued in Miami County, Kansas.
Hawkins said investigators in Carthage exercised search warrants at the trailer, a couple of residences and on some vehicles in connection with the homicide.
The affidavit filed with the charge of abandoning a corpse states that video surveillance footage obtained by investigators from the 400 block of North Main shows a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with Missouri license plates northbound with a Jayco camper in tow at 7:50 a.m. The truck can be seen leaving the area about 8:15 a.m. without any trailer in tow.
The suspect purportedly told investigators he reached Carthage with the trailer in tow about 7 a.m. The affidavit alleges that he left the body in the camper on the dead-end street for more than three hours while he met with family members and spoke with an attorney before contacting police.