Murder charge is filed in 2013 Kansas City killing
Rashawn Long had a tough day Thursday.
Moments after a federal jury convicted the Kansas City man on weapons and drug charges, he learned that Jackson County prosecutors had filed murder charges against him.
They charged Long, 33, on Wednesday with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Sept. 20, 2013, killing of 30-year-old Kevin Jones in Kansas City.
Jackson County prosecutors did not release the charging information until the federal jury case concluded Thursday.
According to court documents, DNA recovered from a hat left at the shooting scene in the 1800 block of East 77th Street matched Long. Cellphone records showed that another person allegedly with Long was in the area at the time, according to court documents.
Police caught a break when a witness ended up being involved in a car wreck while leaving the area. The witness told detectives that Long and two other men wearing masks came to the residence after talking to Jones on the phone.
According to the court documents, Long held a gun to Jones’ head. They began struggling. The witness reported hearing shots and glass breaking before he jumped out a window to escape.
The federal case stemmed from an incident about a month after the killing. Kansas City police found a backpack in a car driven by Long that contained an illegal drug commonly known as bath salts.
The pack also contained a stun gun, pepper spray, a digital scale and a video camera. On the video camera, detectives found images of Long holding a Glock semi-automatic handgun.
They used those images to charge him with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
One of his prior felony convictions was for another murder, according to court records. Long was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison for the February 2001 killing of Michael Birks in Kansas City.
Federal prosecutors said Long faces up to 40 years in prison for his conviction Thursday.
A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence.
To reach Tony Rizzo, call 816-234-4435 or send email to trizzo@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published August 21, 2014 at 5:32 PM with the headline "Murder charge is filed in 2013 Kansas City killing."