Kansas City man sentenced to 30 years in wife’s shooting death: prosecutors
A Kansas City man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his wife in Independence one year ago.
Larnell McDonald, 64, was sentenced Tuesday in Jackson County Circuit Court in the killing of 44-year-old Kimah McDonald. He was handed 10 years on the manslaughter charge and 20 years more for armed criminal action with the sentences to run consecutively.
Police were called to a domestic dispute on Aug. 16 in the 2600 block of Arlington Avenue. As police were en route to the address, officers were told by dispatchers that his wife had been sending text messages to her brother because Larnell McDonald was threatening her, according to court records.
Officers heard the sound of a single gunshot while walking up to the residence, according to court records. Then there was a 911 call placed by Larnell McDonald asking for the police to come.
After Larnell McDonald exited the home, according to court records, he told police his wife was inside and a gun had accidentally gone off. Officers asked him if she was all right and he responded “no,” investigators wrote in court documents.
Police found Kimah McDonald on the bed in the master bedroom with a large amount of blood on her head. She suffered a gunshot wound to her forehead, according to court records. A 9mm handgun McDonald said he purchased two months before was taken as evidence.
In statements to police, Larnell McDonald said he and his wife were being separated. But he denied shooting her intentionally when asked, telling police the gun “just went off” and he pointed the gun toward her “in the heat of the moment.”
“It was loaded, I pointed a gun and it went off, that’s all I can say,” Larnell McDonald allegedly told police at the time.
McDonald was initially charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. But a Jackson County jury instead found him guilty of manslaughter at trial.
This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 6:33 PM.
