Mother of slain teen takes stand during first day of testimony in Yust murder trial
The mother of slain teenager Kara Kopetsky was the first witness called in the trial of Kylr Yust, charged with two counts of first-degree murder in Cass County.
Rhonda Beckford testified Tuesday that her daughter was “the kind of girl that she would talk to anybody, it didn’t matter what kind of social class they were in.”
Yust, 32, faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kopetsky, 17, and Jessica Runions, 21. Kopetsky was reported missing in May 2007, and Runions was last seen alive in September 2016.
Beckford said her daughter dated Yust for about nine months and that he had been abusive.
After Kopetsky disappeared, Beckford said she knew her daughter was not alive because phone and bank activity ceased.
“As the mother of a missing child, I mean what we always said is you get up every day hoping that that’s going to be the day you get answers to what happened to your child,” Beckford said. “Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into years and eventually we were almost at 10 years.”
In September 2016, Beckford found out another person tied to Yust was missing.
“Our fear always was he’d do it again,” she said.
Beckford joined search efforts for Runions and “became very close” with her family.
Their cases remained long-running mysteries in the Kansas City area until a mushroom hunter found remains in April 2017 in a wooded area south of Belton.
The case dates back to May 4, 2007, when Kopetsky was reported missing. Days earlier, she had reported that Yust, her ex-boyfriend, had kidnapped her, according to a probable cause statement filed in the case. He eventually let her out of the vehicle and Kopetsky went to the police and got an order of protection.
Yust was interviewed by Belton police officers, but not charged in Kopetsky’s disappearance.
Between 2010 and 2012, police spoke to at least four people who said Yust had confessed to killing Kopetsky, according to charging documents.
On Sept. 9, 2016, Runions was reported missing. She was last seen leaving a party with Yust, according to court records.
Human remains were discovered April 3, 2017, in the area of Y Highway and 233rd Street in Cass County. During a more extensive search of the area, a second set was found the next day. They were identified as Runions and Kopetsky.
Yust was charged in their deaths six months later.
Since then, his defense team has raised questions about the the integrity of the investigation.
Last year, Yust’s attorneys said police failed to fully investigate an alternative suspect and alleged that a Kansas City police officer had sex with a witness.
Testimony on Tuesday continued with friends of Kopetsky’s who were familiar with her relationship with Yust and a Belton police detective.
Yust’s trial is expected to last three weeks.
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 2:53 PM.
