Man charged in KC homicide allegedly stabbed maintenance man who called police on him
A Kansas City man has been arrested in connection to a fatal July 31 stabbing of a maintenance worker.
Syan R. Crawford, 39, has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of 63-year-old Larry Dickerson, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office announced Monday.
Police were called to a disturbance just after 8 a.m. July 31 at an apartment complex in the 3200 block of Linwood, Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, said at the time.
There, officers found Dickerson, who had been stabbed. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition; he died on Aug. 2.
Dickerson lived at the apartment complex and was a maintenance employee, police said.
According to the charging documents, officers arriving on scene were flagged down by a pedestrian, who pointed them in the direction of Dickerson, who was covered with blood.
Several hours earlier, at about 1 a.m., Dickerson had called police on a suspicious person sleeping in the apartment’s laundry room, court records show.
About an hour and a half later, a witness told police they saw a man they knew as Crawford sleeping in the apartment’s stairwell.
Police later found out from other witnesses that Crawford had told an apartment resident he was upset Dickerson called police on him, court records show. He said he planned to retaliate.
Multiple witnesses described the confrontation that followed.
“I’m gonna get you, I got something for you,” Crawford told Dickerson as Dickerson put his hands up in a defensive boxing position, according to the charging documents. Then Crawford lunged at him with the knife, stabbing Dickerson once in the chest.
Witnesses also told police Crawford was shot by someone as he ran from the scene, causing him to fall to the sidewalk, then limp away.
A witness told detectives that Crawford had parked a blue bicycle near the building, court records show. Police swabbed the bike for DNA.
Police arrested Crawford on Saturday and matched his DNA to that found at the scene.
Prosecutors are requesting that Crawford’s bond be set at $500,000.
Dickerson’s death was the 117th homicide in Kansas City this year. As of Monday, 127 people have been killed in the city.
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