Clay County jail inmate faces indictment in the strangulation death

A Clay County grand jury has indicted a 34-year-old man on a first-degree murder charge in the June 1 strangulation death of a fellow jail inmate.

Marcus J. Simms, 34, of Lee’s Summit was already being held on first-degree murder charges in the April 20, 2014, stabbing death of his girlfriend, Michele Boldridge, whose body was found inside their Northland apartment.

In the indictment issued Tuesday, prosecutors allege that Simms strangled Brian Parisi. Details of what prompted the altercation were sealed under the criminal indictment.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation last summer after the Jackson County medical examiner ruled Parisi’s death a homicide.

Parisi, 26, was being held on a drug charge. Prior to that, Parisi had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge, according to court records. In 2016, he was charged in Johnson County with misdemeanor theft.

Prosecutors charged Simms in his girlfriend’s death in 2014.

Naked, he drove to a school bus parking lot and approached a bus driver, according to court records. The driver saw Simms had blood on his left hand and a cellphone in his right hand. She told him to go away.

But Simms yelled: “You don’t understand. Someone just killed my girlfriend!”

Simms ran to the bus building and tried to enter. When he couldn’t, Simms stole another bus driver’s minivan, using keys he found on the floorboard, court records allege. Police arrested Simms after he drove the van off the road near Missouri 152 and Interstate 435.

Earlier that morning, police found the body of Michele Boldridge after neighbors reported seeing a bloody, naked man running around. Neighbors who called 911 said the man claimed someone was trying to kill him, police said.

Officers found bloody clothes and an ID in the area before finding Boldrige’s body. She had sustained head wounds, according to court records.

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Clay County jail inmate faces indictment in the strangulation death."