Jackson County Prosecutor's Office

Late Friday, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson released a statement saying that under Missouri law, the officer who shot and killed Maria Pike and her infant, Destinii, was justified in using deadly force.

After being sworn into office last month, new Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson has already changed the county's role in domestic violence cases.

Celebratory gunfire is illegal under a new Missouri law, but police fielded dozens of calls after the AFC Championship win on Jan. 26. As neighborhoods brace for even bigger celebrations if the Chiefs win the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, police are saying the law is hard to enforce.

Melesa Johnson, 35, will be sworn in as Jackson County's prosecutor on Friday. She says she will keep some of Baker's policies, tweak others and offer her own.

The homicide rate dipped to the lowest number in the last six years, said Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves. But the number of people who were shot and survived increased by nearly 12%, leaving hundreds of people with gunshot wounds.

A report from the prosecutor examines officer-involved shootings by the Kansas City Police Department, focusing primarily on the killing of Donnie Sanders, an unarmed Black man, in March 2020.

Jean Peters Baker is leaving office next month after 13 years as Jackson County's top prosecutor. In a recent exit interview, she said she's faced threats and criticism for her decisions — especially over the prosecution of ex-KCPD officer Eric DeValkenaere.

Eric DeValkenaere, who has been in prison for a year and two months, was released at mid-day on Friday, in time to be home for Christmas as his wife had asked of Gov. Mike Parson. The family of Cameron Lamb, the 26-year-old Black man DeValkenaere killed, had long feared Parson would free the former police detective.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said she's faced threats and criticism for her decisions over the years — especially over the prosecution of ex-KCPD officer Eric DeValkenaere. She spoke with KCUR's Up To Date about her 13 years as the county’s top prosecutor, and the consequences the job had on her and her family.

Johnson, a Democrat, beat Tracey Chappell, a Republican, in the heavily Democratic county. The race was heated in its last days as the two candidates debated how to handle a spike in property crimes.

Judge Margene Burnett convicted Brian Favela, 23, and Joel Olivas, 24, of several felony charges, but dismissed other weapons counts due to Missouri’s self-defense laws. Prosecutors said the two men were gang members.

Jackson County voters will elect a new county prosecutor in just over one week. Republican Tracey Chappell and Democrat Melesa Johnson met for a debate on KCUR's Up To Date about how they’d approach criminal justice.