KC man found guilty of murdering his 70-year-old grandmother

A 19-year-old Kansas City man was convicted Monday of stabbing his grandmother to death in 2013, one day after she celebrated her 70th birthday.

A Jackson County judge convicted Corey Barrett of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and two counts of armed criminal action in the March 2013 death of Marise Barrett.

Barrett waived his right to a jury trial. The case was tried last week before Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Joel P. Fahnestock, who announced her verdict Monday.

Marise Barrett suffered 32 stab wounds, according to testimony from Diane Peterson, a deputy Jackson County medical examiner.

Peterson described how several wounds on Barrett’s hands suggested that she had tried to ward off the knife thrusts.

Although the autopsy photographs were not visible to the courtroom gallery, some friends and family members grew emotional as Peterson described how two of the stab wounds damaged major arteries and probably hastened the victim’s death.

Barrett initially was charged as a juvenile because he was 16 at the time, but a judge later certified him to stand trial as an adult.

A co-defendant, Kevin J. Brewer, 20, has pleaded guilty in the case and is to be sentenced Friday.

According to court documents, Barrett and Brewer went to the victim’s house in the 4400 block of East 33rd Street early March 17, 2013, to commit a robbery.

Family members told police that Barrett had once lived with his grandmother, but she had told him to move out in January.

Marise Barrett, who had celebrated her birthday March 16 with a family gathering at her home, was found dead the next morning by her husband, who slept in a different room.

Several electronic items, including a cellphone, had been taken from the home, according to court documents.

Kansas City police investigators testified how they had found an iPhone case on a kitchen counter but could not find the phone.

However, Marise Barrett shared a cellphone account with a sister, who noticed recent activity on the account.

After detectives obtained a court order to track the missing phone, they arrested Brewer, who had the phone with him after he walked out of his school.

Later questioned by police, each defendant implicated the other as the killer, according to court documents.

Sentencing for Barrett is scheduled for June 18.

This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 2:41 PM with the headline "KC man found guilty of murdering his 70-year-old grandmother."