Charges filed after man found beaten to death in Kansas City alley

A 36-year-old man has been charged with beating another man to death last month in a northeast Kansas City alley.

Joseph M. Parker is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with second-degree murder in the Oct. 23 killing of 39-year-old Lovell J. Smith.

Parker is also charged with armed criminal action.

Smith was killed in an alley behind the 3600 block of Roberts Avenue.

Part of the incident was captured on surveillance video and showed Smith walking in the alley towards the area where he was later found dead.

The video also shows a person carrying a pry bar walking in the alley in the same direction.

Later, the man with the pry bar is seen walking in the opposite direction. He bends down and wipes the bar on the grass before a silver car is seen leaving the area, according to the documents.

Parker was identified as a possible suspect and a witness identified a photograph of him as the suspect, the documents allege.

When questioned by Kansas City police detectives, Parker refused to answer questions and plugged his ears with his fingers when an officer tried to read him his rights.

Prosecutors requested that Parker be held on a bond of $250,000.

This story was originally published November 7, 2017 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Charges filed after man found beaten to death in Kansas City alley."