Warrant issued for KC man who told police he fatally shot woman stealing his car
A Kansas City man has been charged with second-degree murder after he told detectives he fatally shot a woman stealing his car outside a gas station, according to court records.
An arrest warrant was issued Friday for 26-year-old Lawrence Perkins, who was also charged with armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in the April 4 killing of Shea Henry, 27.
Officers were dispatched to the shooting just after 1 a.m. to the gas station at 5901 Troost Ave., where they found Henry dead inside the driver’s seat of a silver 2017 Volkswagen Passat.
Perkins was taken into custody at the scene. In his sweatshirt pocket was a gun that contained no live ammunition, police said. Detectives determined the gun had been fired until it was empty, according to a probable cause statement filed in Jackson County.
At police headquarters in downtown Kansas City, Perkins told detectives he was driving home from work and stopped at the convenience store, where he saw a dark Ford Fusion with a man and a woman inside. Perkins then went into the store.
As he left, Perkins saw the Fusion speeding away and the woman stealing his car, so he pulled out his gun, ran to his Passat and tried to open one of its doors, he allegedly told detectives. The woman reversed the car, knocking Perkins backwards, police said. Perkins fired about six rounds, he thought, from his gun at the car and the woman, according to charging documents.
The car then struck a tree and came to a stop. Perkins put the car in park and called 911.
Parts of the incident were captured of video surveillance.
Detectives founds 10 spent shell casings at the scene and about 10 defects in the car.
Perkins was released pending further investigation. The charges were filed against him Friday. He was not in custody as of Monday morning, Sgt. Jake Becchina, a Kansas City Police Department spokesman, said in an email.
Perkins did not yet have an attorney listed in court records who could be reach for comment.
The shooting marked the 43rd killing this year in Kansas City, according to data kept by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. There had been 38 homicides by that time last year.
