KC man sentenced in 2022 killing of young pregnant mother of two: Prosecutor
A Kansas City man convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of a pregnant mother of two in 2022 was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tuesday by a Jackson County judge.
Emmett C. Williams, 35, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of second-degree murder, as well as two counts of armed criminal action, in the death of Shayla Curts, 22.
Williams shot Curts in the North Town Fork Creek neighborhood of Kansas City around 8 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2022, according to court documents.
Witnesses told detectives that a man later identified as Williams had visited Curts that night at a home in the 4900 block of Bellefontaine Avenue. Curts was sitting on the couch, exchanging insults with Willliams, when he shot her in the head with a 9 mm handgun, according to court documents.
Williams later attempted to ditch the handgun in a nearby patch of woods before turning himself in to Kansas City police.
He told detectives that he had known Curts for several years and that she often “antagoniz[ed]” him throughout their relationship, court documents state.
Curts’ family remembers her as energetic, independent, artistic and wise. The young mother enjoyed drawing, painting and creating from a young age.
“The world lost a beautiful soul the day that she died,” Curts’ grandmother Leesa Grauel previously told The Star.
Curts is survived by her children Mars and Winter, as well as two older sisters.
She had planned to name the baby Soleil.
Previous reporting by Bill Lukitsch and Jenna Thompson contributed to this article.
This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 9:16 PM.
