Clay County judge sentences father who stabbed son to death at family home
A Clay County man convicted of stabbing his son to death in 2017 has been sentenced to 45 years in prison, according to prosecutors.
Kevin D. Leslie, 56, of Kansas City, North, was found guilty in April of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of his son Joseph D. Leslie, 27.
The stabbing happened Feb. 12, 2017, during an altercation at the family home in the 4200 block of North Bellefontaine Avenue.
“No murder makes sense, and this makes less than most,” Clay County Prosecutor Dan White said in a statement. “When authorities arrived in response to a call for medical aid, Kevin D. Leslie made several spontaneous assertions he had stabbed the younger man to death and that his son started to ‘look goofy’ after being cut.”
Following the four-day trial in April , a Clay County jury recommended that Leslie be sentenced to 30 years in prison. They also recommended a 15-year sentence for the armed criminal action conviction.
