Kansas City 18-year-old pleads guilty in double homicide, sentenced to 21 years in prison
A Kansas City 18-year-old was sentenced 21 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty in connection with a double homicide in south Kansas City last year.
Linda S. Ater pleaded guilty Monday morning to second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in the shooting deaths of Deontae Marchbanks, 19, and Cierra Pennington, 17.
Marchbanks and Pennington were shot on Dec. 9, 2024, outside an apartment building in the Citadel neighborhood of Kansas City. Police responded to the building in the 6000 block of Blue Hills Road around 3:30 p.m. and found Marchbanks and Pennington unresponsive in a car with multiple gunshot wounds.
Marchbanks was pronounced dead at the scene, and Pennington was brought to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Ater was initially charged in January with two counts of accessory to second-degree murder and two charges of armed criminal action. At least two other suspects were initially identified in Marchbanks and Pennington’s death, but Ater remains the only one charged.
Surveillance video captured at the scene shows Ater, Marchbanks and Pennington arriving at the parking lot of the apartment building in the same car, according to court documents. Ater can then be seen crossing to another car to speak to the other suspects before turning back and shooting at Marchbanks and Pennington, though detectives believe her gun malfunctioned or jammed, court documents read.
Ater can then be seen getting into the suspects’ car as another suspect continued shooting into the car, then shot Pennington as she tried to escape, according to court documents.
Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said in a statement Monday night that Ater had previously been identified as a potential participant in SAVE KC, a violent crime prevention campaign focused on deterrence and proactive resource distribution for people at high risk of criminal involvement.
“As we explain to SAVE KC clients, we care about your future, but violence will never be tolerated,” Johnson said Monday.
Marchbanks and Pennington’s deaths were the 141st and 142nd homicides reported in Kansas City in 2024, according to data collected by The Star.
