Woman declines police interview in Overland Park shooting death of horticulturalist
A woman involved in a child custody battle with a horticulturalist who was fatally shot Monday morning in Overland Park declined to be interviewed by police, her attorney told The Star on Thursday.
Police have said they were hoping to interview Samantha Andrada, 40, in relation to the killing of Terra Technologies founder David Flick.
Flick was found shot, lying beside his pickup truck, about 8:15 a.m. outside his office in the Deer Creek Office Center in the 6200 block of West 135th Street. He had dropped his boys, ages 11 and 6, off at school before heading to the office, a family member said. Flick left behind a wife who is 3 months pregnant.
Police said Andrada was not a suspect in the homicide.
Her attorney, John Picerno, said Thursday she has decided not to be interviewed by police.
“Samantha has been through a very traumatic week,” Picerno said in a statement.
Police investigation
Hours after Flick was killed, Clay County sheriff’s deputies in Kearney pulled over an SUV matching a description released by Overland Park police. Scott MacDonald, the only person inside the vehicle, fired a gunshot and died by suicide, police said.
Overland Park police said Tuesday that the suicide was “definitely” related to Flick’s killing and that police were not actively looking for any other suspects in the case.
MacDonald was described in court documents as having a been in a relationship with Andrada. A judge signed an order in 2017 that Flick and Andrada’s child was to have no contact with MacDonald.
Picerno said Andrada had communicated with law enforcement about concerns that MacDonald would harm himself.
“In the interest of public safety, she provided (law enforcement) with information re: Mr. MacDonald and the possibility of him committing suicide,” Picerno said. “Fortunately, as a direct (result) of that information, that situation ended with no one else being harmed. She is more than willing to provide any additional information requested by the police.”
Overland Park police declined to comment on Picerno’s statement or answer further questions about the investigation.
During the custody battle between Flick and Andrada, Flick expressed concerns about his safety because of threats Andrada made against him and MacDonald’s criminal history, according to Flick’s attorney Joshua Jones.
MacDonald was sentenced 1986 to 21 years in prison for first-degree assault in Jefferson County for severely beating his mother, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
