6-year-old boy found slain in Kansas City was elementary school student in Raytown
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Child’s tragic death
Jackson County prosecutors have charged 35-year-old Tasha L. Haefs in the death of her 6-year-old son, who Kansas City police found decapitated in a residence late at night on Feb. 15. The details of the child’s homicide are grisly.
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Karvel Stevens, the 6-year-old boy who was found brutally slain this week at a house in Kansas City, was a student at Spring Valley Elementary School in Raytown.
Extra counseling will be available at the school in the coming days, Principal Melissa Gabbert wrote in a letter sent to families Thursday.
“We remember Karvell as a friendly, caring and compassionate student who loved learning, his friends and teachers,” she said in the letter.
A GoFundMe fundraiser page described Karvel as being a happy child who enjoyed going to the park and eating Popeye’s chicken sandwiches with fries.
Kansas City police responded late Tuesday to a home in the 7300 block of Indiana Ave. An officer saw a severed head through a window and police forced their way into the residence.
Inside they found Tasha Haefs, 35, on the kitchen floor with blood on her hands and feet. Police located Karvel’s body. After searching the home, police located a dead dog in the basement. Its head was also severed.
Haefs, the child’s mother, was arrested and brought to police headquarters, where she allegedly admitted to killing her son.
She was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. During a court hearing Friday, a judge ordered a mental health examination be performed.
Teachers at Spring Valley were asked to be “extra vigilant,” Gabbert said in the letter. Children may react to a traumatic situation by lashing out, exhbiting clingy behavior, unusual sleep patterns, loss of appetite or asking questions repeatedly. Anyone who notices these symptoms should refer them to the school for counseling, Gabbert said.
