66-year-old arrested in Kansas days after killing man outside KC home, prosecutor says
A 66-year-old Kansas City man has been arrested and charged in the shooting death of Morris “Mac” Clay as the victim was leaving a home earlier this month, according to charging documents released Thursday by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
The shooter, identified in court records as Marshall Celestine, is charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection to the death of Clay, 67.
Clay — a former sports director at KPRS-FM radio and a regular at the Palestine Senior Activity Center — was fatally shot Aug. 17. Kansas City police said they found the the man’s body lying in the front yard of the house near 33rd Street and Wabash Avenue.
One witness told police she saw a man, later identified as Celestine, shoot Clay as he was leaving the residence. She said she heard “pop, pop, pop,” looked up and saw Clay stagger off the porch, drop a bag and fall to the ground. She said the gunman shot Clay two more times and walked into the house that the victim was exiting, court records said.
Other witnesses told police they heard shots and saw Celestine leave the scene in a green Honda car.
Late Monday night, police in Overland Park found Celestine in the Honda in the 7700 block of Frontage Road. When officers approached the vehicle, man was holding a revolver, court records said. Police said he refused to get out of the vehicle at first, but later complied and was taken into custody. Jail records show he was booked into the Johnson County Detention Center.
After searching the Honda, police found a revolver with three spent bullets and three live rounds. Police found that a spent bullet from Clay’s body matched the revolver located inside Celestine’s car.
A court date has not yet been scheduled.
Past court records show Celestine was convicted in Sedgwick County, Kansas, of three counts of robbery, three counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated kidnapping in 1975.