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Sharon Kinne, who fled Kansas City in 1964 after being acquitted of two murders, was the subject of one of the longest outstanding murder warrants in the area. She was convicted of another murder in Mexico in 1964, escaped from prison in 1969 and died in 2022 in Canada.
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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.
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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.
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Gwendolyn Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said her colleagues and community members are outraged that Missouri Gov. Mike Parson freed former KCPD detective Eric DeValkenaere last week.
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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.
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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.
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Jackson County Juvenile Court released 17-year-old “L.M.” last Wednesday, without comment, after more than three months in custody. A second juvenile, 15, is still being held in the killing of Shaun Brady, a popular Irish pub owner.
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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.
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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.
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Two teens charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Shaun Brady will face December hearings on whether they will face trials as adults. A Jackson County Family Court judge Wednesday ordered both boys to stay in lock-up.
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Erik DeValkenaere violated the constitutional rights of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb when he entered his backyard without any legal reason, a U.S. District judge ruled, opening the door to financial damages for the family.
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A Missouri legislative committee has been holding hearings across the state about immigration and crime. It got an earful, with many witnesses trying to explain immigration law and citing data that refutes the starkly anti-immigrant messaging.