Jackson County Prosecutor's Office

County Executive Frank White vetoed the Jackson County budget in January, then four county legislators sued him. Three months later, the county is still at odds — and services are coming to a halt.

Kansas City has recorded 12 homicides linked to domestic violence so far this year — the same number reported in all of 2024. Domestic violence service agencies fear the problem could get worse if social services lose federal funding.

Prosecutor Melesa Johnson’s office is supporting a state bill that would add animal control officers to the list of those who must report any suspected child or elder abuse. Animal abuse is seen as a “predictor crime” for potential violence toward people.

So far this year, Kansas City has recorded 12 homicides related to domestic violence – which was the total attributed to the problem last year. There wasn’t a single contributing factor, but Mayor Quinton Lucas cited the large number of guns in the city.

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.