Man thought to have info on killing near Overland Park City Hall charged with gun crime
A man Overland Park police thought might have information about a fatal shooting in May near City Hall has been charged in federal court with being a felon in possession of a weapon.
The DNA and fingerprints of Kyle Gutierres, 25, were found on a 9mm pistol that officers discovered in a nearby apartment as they investigated the May 24 killing of 35-year-old Jeren Hinton, a federal agent wrote in charging documents.
Hinton, of Overland Park, was found shot to death in a parking lot near 8532 W. 85th St. at the Greenbrier Condominiums, which is across the street from City Hall and the police department. A 9mm shell casing was found by his body, the agent said.
The Overland Park Police Department has said detectives believed Gutierres had information about the homicide and took him into custody. In federal court records, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said police learned Gutierres and another man may have been involved in the killing, though neither has been charged with any such crime.
A witness that day said two people left a nearby apartment, which belonged to the other man, shortly before hearing a gunshot. Officers later searched that apartment and found the pistol inside a suitcase in a bedroom.
The weapon was sent to Johnson County’s crime lab, which reported to have found Gutierres’ fingerprints on the magazine in the gun and his DNA on its trigger and slide, according to a criminal complaint. DNA belonging to the other man, who The Star is not naming because he has not been charged, was also found on the gun’s slide.
Interviewed by an Overland Park detective, Gutierres denied being involved in the killing but admitted that he touched the gun found in the nearby apartment, according to the federal agent.
Gutierres had a prior conviction of aggravated battery in 2015 in Johnson County, so prosecutors charged him with being a felon in possession of a weapon, records show.
Gutierres is being held at the Johnson County jail. He did not yet have an attorney listed who could be reached for comment.
