Kansas man sentenced to life for killing woman, 2 children

<p>KANSAS CITY, Kan. &mdash; A Kansas man who <a href="https://apnews.com/article/23fdfc01894d7ae900a15871c5addb40">killed his estranged girlfriend and her two children </a> before setting their house on fire was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole.</p>
<p>Ismael Caballero was sentenced to 14.5 years in prison in the Dec. 30, 2019 death of 32-year-old Yazmin Rodriguez-Santillan, of Kansas City, Kansas. He was given the life sentence for the deaths of 14-year-old Amerikha Rodriguez and 10-year-old Jeancarlo Rodriguez. </p>
<p>Caballero pleaded guilty to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2ed0b8fa65fd66b37a8927751d7266a1">capital murder</a> for the children’s deaths, second-degree murder for their mother’s killing and arson for burning their home.</p>
<p>Wyandotte County prosecutors said Caballero killed Rodriguez-Santillan first, then returned to the home to kill the children to prevent them from testifying against him. He then set the house on fire to destroy evidence.</p>
<p>The children’s father attended the hearing via Zoom from Mexico. </p>