This is a breaking news story and will be updated through the day.
Blayne Newton, a Kansas City police officer with a history of fatal shootings costing taxpayers millions, resigned from the force Friday in a mutual decision with the department.
Newton will be paid a $50,000 settlement and will be barred from any future employment with KCPD, according to a settlement agreement released by the department.
“As of February 13, 2026, and by mutual agreement, Blayne Newton has resigned from the Kansas City Missouri Police Department,” said an email sent by Capt. Jake Becchina. “This agreed departure brings certainty and closure to the matter.”
Steve Young, co-founder of KC LEAP (Law Enforcement Accountability Project), said the announcement was not a cause for celebration, nor does it constitute accountability.
"Resignation is not justice. It is not transparency. And it is not reform," Young said. "True accountability requires decertification where warranted, independent and timely prosecution when criminal conduct is alleged, and oversight mechanisms that function before tragedy compounds — not after."
Newton, a nine-year veteran who made $94,900 a year, ducked criminal charges in late January when Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced she could not “ethically or legally” file charges against Newton in a triple shooting despite her concerns with the pattern of cases.
Newton shot 16 rounds into a minivan in the June 9, 2023, incident that killed two people and injured a third. KCPD settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the families late last year for $3.5 million.
It was later learned that Newton shouldn’t have been in Jackson County that night, as he had been placed on duty out of the North Patrol, which covers Platte and Clay counties. He told investigators that he went to a KCPD station to go to the bathroom.
John Picerno, the attorney who won the 2023 wrongful death lawsuit, said Newton's resignation was a good thing for the community because it doesn't need "reckless law enforcement officers patrolling our streets."
"The decision to shoot should be the last alternative for an officer. The overwhelming majority of officers perform admirably under difficult circumstances," Picerno said. "An officer with his propensity for violence should never be allowed in the profession. I know my clients will be relieved.”
In one of the more high-profile cases of the past few years, Newton, who is white, shot and killed Donnie Sanders, an unarmed 47-year-old Black man, in March 2020 after chasing him for speeding. Sanders’ family filed a $10 million civil case against the department.
In 2024, former Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker called on KCPD to fire Newton because he was a risk to public safety. Another case was settled for $65,000 when a Kansas woman accused Newton of assault at a Platte County Walmart.
Admitting her decision might be “deeply painful” to the victims’ families, Johnson said that in the 2023 case, Newton used permissible force in defense of others, responding to the van’s front passenger who was firing at another vehicle. Missouri law says a person cannot be held criminally liable when they unintentionally strike a third party while defending themselves or others, she said.
“This office has serious and ongoing concerns about (Newton’s) pattern of behavior and the potential consequences it poses for other cases in which he is involved,” Johnson wrote in a letter to KCPD Chief Stacey Graves.
