Kansas City man sentenced to life in prison for 2020 double homicide
A 36-year-old Kansas City man was sentenced Thursday to serve life in prison for the killings of two men in August 2020, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Cleon D. White was convicted by a jury of two first-degree murder charges, as well as unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action charges, in January, according to court records. On Thursday, a Jackson County Circuit Court judge sentenced White to life in prison without parole plus 65 years, prosecutors said.
The two men who were fatally shot were Jahmiere Green, 18, and Brandon Rainey, 22. The two men were found dead in a car in the 2700 block of Guinotte Avenue of Kansas City in August 2020, and investigators linked White to the killings.
Shortly before the shooting, surveillance video showed Green speaking with a man who police said matched White’s build, at a location on East Third Street, a short distance from the shooting scene, according to court documents. After that conversation, Rainey joined Green in a Honda and left that area. Detectives followed the path of the Honda to the shooting scene and tracked an SUV following the men.
The SUV could be seen pulling up beside the Honda and then driving off to return to the area of East Third Street. A person who appeared to be a match with the man who met with Green earlier could be seen taking items out of the SUV and putting them in a dumpster, according to court documents.
In a separate case, White was accused of fatally shooting another man, Mortez Falkner, 32, in September 2021.
White pleaded guilty to a count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter last month in that matter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to court records. That sentence runs concurrent to his sentence in the double homicide case.
In the 2021 killing, investigators determined Falkner was shot after he exited an establishment on Vine Street in Kansas City, according to court documents. Witnesses said the man had been celebrating his birthday with a group of friends when he was shot. Surveillance video showed the shots came from a person in a Cadillac sedan, which raced away from the scene.
Investigators linked White to the shooting using DNA gathered from spent shell casings and from the vehicle, which was recovered about a year after the shooting, according to court documents.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch contributed reporting.
