Prosecutor considers death penalty for Kansas City man accused of killing 3 women, dog
A Kansas City man is accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and two family members, as well as shooting at a fourth family member who escaped the Northland home where they all lived early Sunday morning, officials said.
Authorities said the suspect, Armando Navarro Jr., was arrested near Abilene, Kansas, after he fled the scene of the shooting. He is being held without bond.
Navarro was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault and four counts of armed criminal action in Platte County Circuit Court Monday. He was also charged with animal abuse, a misdemeanor, for allegedly shooting and killing the family’s dog, authorities said.
In a press conference Monday morning, Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said his office would consider whether to pursue the death penalty for Navarro in the coming days.
“This is a horrific crime,” he said. “It’s one of the worst crimes that I have prosecuted in my 22 years of prosecution. Three women are dead and a surviving victim lost her mother, her grandmother and her sister. My prayers are with the entire family, and I want you to know that we will utilize the full weight of Missouri law to bring this defendant to justice.”
The victims were identified as Jodie Hopcus, 49, Sherri Duncan, 73, and Hailey Hopcus, 24.
Zahnd said the three women, the surviving victim and Navarro all lived at the home in the 4100 block of Northwest 65th Street where the shooting took place.
Police went to the home around 12:40 a.m. Sunday after a 911 caller reported someone had come to their door reporting her mother’s ex-boyfriend shot her mother and shot at her. Investigators found the three deceased women and the dead dog inside the home.
The shooting
The surviving victim said prior to the shooting Navarro had been arguing with her mother and said this was something that happened often, a Kansas City police detective wrote in court documents. She said she heard her mother telling Navarro to leave, and he replied that he didn’t want to leave. The confrontation continued for about an hour.
Navarro was going back and forth from his room to the kitchen and at one point came out armed with a handgun and started to shoot at them and hit her mother in the arm, the victim said. After he ran out of bullets, he allegedly grabbed a knife and her mother tried to shield her behind her body. Navarro left and allegedly came back with another firearm, which he held under his chin as if he were going to shoot himself, she said.
As her mother was trying to get to a door, he allegedly shot her again, the detective wrote. She said she saw her grandmother was on the ground, motionless.
Her sister told her to get out of the house, and as she attempted to leave, he shot her sister and fired at her, she said. A bullet hit her hair, and she showed investigators were her hair was damaged, according to court documents.
She ran from the home, hid at a nearby residence and watched her mother’s vehicle leave the house, according to court documents.
Authorities determined Navarro left in a 2020 Ford Expedition with a California license plate registered to one of the victims and tracked him to Abilene, Kansas, a little more than two hours west of the home.
Sheriff’s deputies in Dickinson County told investigators that they had been in contact with the driver of the vehicle, who reported he was waiting on a tow truck. They returned with Kansas Highway Patrol troopers, and arrested Navarro, who had a revolver and five spent shell casings, according to court documents.
Zahnd said a man who identified himself as Navarro’s son contacted police and asked them to check on the victims, saying his father had called him around 2 a.m. and said he had “killed them all.”
Zahnd said Navarro is being held without bond in Dickinson County, Kansas, and that authorities will seek to bring him back to be held in Platte County.
Deputy Chief Doug Niemeier with the Kansas City Police Department said investigators used a “huge amount of technology” to track down Navarro.
“This case has got a lot of loose ends to tie up still, so that’s what they’re all doing today and have been doing all weekend since this happened,” he said.
Zahnd said his office would consult with the family of the victims as he decides whether or not to pursue the death penalty.
“I will tell you that the family’s wishes with respect to that are important,” he said. “Whatever decision I ultimately make in that regard falls heaviest on the surviving family members and particularly this woman who was there at the scene, who was herself a victim of this terrible crime and saw her mother, her grandmother and her sister shot to death.”
