Judge sets trial date for Kansas City man accused of killing his neighbor
The Kansas City man accused of killing his neighbor in the middle of their Northland street in January is scheduled to go to trial later this year.
Jeffrey Traviss King, 42, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action in the shooting death of his neighbor, Christopher Cole Wells, 41. King has pleaded not guilty and is currently in Clay County custody, housed in the Platte County Jail, in lieu of payment of $2 million cash bond.
The bond, initially set at $5 million cash, was lowered last month in a hearing before Judge Shane Alexander.
In a hearing Friday morning, Alexander scheduled the trial for Nov. 30, according to the Clay County Prosecutor’s office.
Based on Alexander’s order last month, the case is under seal and no longer available on an online court database for public view. The only information that can be given to the public are court dates, according to the order.
On Jan. 12, Kansas City police officers responded to the shooting about 7:30 a.m. and found Wells lying in the street in the 2500 block of Northeast 78th Street. King is accused of shooting Wells eight times; police counted eight wounds to Wells’ back and five to his front, suggesting that some rounds created exit wounds.
Wells had allegedly confronted King outside his home that Monday morning and punched him in apparent defense of his wife.
Many in the neighborhood had complained for years about King, filing scores of complaints about him to their Homeowners Association, to 311, to Kansas City Police, City Hall and the mayor, all of whom insist they responded as best as the law allowed.
In a story earlier this week, The Star detailed how residents in the Maple Woods Estates neighborhood have struggled to heal in the months since Wells’ death. Neighbors have reached out to each other and become closer since the shooting. As one neighbor said, they have a “shared trauma.”
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for April 10 at 1:30 p.m.
