Kansas City woman charged in fatal shooting of man early Sunday on Wabash Avenue
A 30-year-old Kansas City woman has been charged in the fatal shooting of a man early Sunday.
Marvina Stemmons has been charged with second degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of Charles Harris, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
At about 4:15 a.m. Sunday, officers were called to a home in the 4000 block of Wabash Avenue on a reported shooting, Capt. David Jackson, a spokesman with the Kansas City Police Department, said at the time. There they found Harris, 48, dead on the living room couch from a gunshot wound.
Police spoke with two witnesses who both confirmed Stemmons had been at the home on Wabash Avenue earlier that day, according to charging documents.
The first witness told police he saw Harris and Stemmons together earlier that day, court records show. At one point, Stemmons pulled a gun out from her black bag to show them. Then she and Harris went to a pool hall in Raytown for a celebration.
The witness told police he was later awoken to the sound of a gunshot downstairs. He found Harris slumped over on the couch and the living room otherwise empty.
A second witness in the home also told police that Stemmons had been there earlier in the day and taken out a firearm, but the witness, according to charging documents, told her to put it away because there were children in the home. That witness also heard a gunshot later.
A third witness at the pool hall told police they saw Stemmons and Harris there together and that they “seemed to be getting along,” court records show.
At one point, Harris told the witness that Stemmons was the “real deal” and “a real gunner,” according to charging documents. Then Stemmons showed them her gun upon request.
Stemmons told a different witness that night that she “is always armed.”
Police at the scene after the shooting found a green camouflage jacket that matched what witnesses said Stemmons was wearing earlier that evening.
Stemmons was arrested Tuesday in Kansas City, court records show.
When interviewed by police, Stemmons denied having a gun or being at the home when Stemmons was shot. She said he made “respectful” sexual advancements toward her that night, but then dropped her off at her home, court records show.
Later in the interview she told police that she did return to the home with Stemmons and that she had a gun, according to charging documents. Stemmons said Harris made another sexual advance on her, and that when he didn’t stop, she fired the gun. Stemmons told police she didn’t know if the bullet hit Harris, since it was dark.
She then ran home barefoot, court records show.
Prosecutor’s have requested that her bond be set at $75,000 cash only.
The killing marked the 13th homicide in Kansas City this year. Kansas City ended last year with 182 homicides, the most in the city’s history in a single year, according to data maintained by The Star.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
