Man charged in killing at Independence Avenue car wash

A 30-year-old man has been charged with murder in the July 21 shooting death of a Spring Hill man at a car wash on Independence Avenue in Kansas City, according to Jackson County prosecutors.

Eric H. Womack is accused of killing 41-year-old Anthony Clark during what was supposed to have been a drug deal, according to a police report. Womack is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action.

According to court records, police found Clark shot to death in a vehicle inside the car wash at 5700 Independence Ave. about 6:30 p.m.

Clark lived in Spring Hill and worked for a lumber company there, according to his obituary. Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, he had moved to Paola in high school and later attended DeVry University in Overland Park.

Days after Clark was found, Kansas City detectives learned from police in Spring Hill and Osawatomie that witnesses had implicated Womack in the killing. According to those witnesses, Womack had gone to Kansas City with Clark and a woman to buy “dope.”

Witnesses told police that they had heard Womack talking about the killing. According to those witnesses, Womack said he had planned to rob Clark, and that he shot Clark for “grabbing on” the woman. One witness told police Womack said he “left the scene dirty,” meaning that he had left spent shell casings behind, and that he expected police to come looking for him.

When police found the woman who was allegedly with Womack and Clark in the vehicle when the shooting occurred, she told detectives that she saw Womack kill Clark. The woman said she and Womack ran away after the shooting, and that she saw Womack disasemble the gun and discard it as they fled.

Womack has a criminal record that includes arrests for burglary, assault and other charges in Miami and Johnson counties.

Kansas City police arrested Womack on August 12 and he declined to talk with detectives, according to a police report.

Womack is in custody at the Jackson County jail on $250,000 bond.

This story was originally published August 14, 2017 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Man charged in killing at Independence Avenue car wash."