Suspect in Amtrak homicide charged with murder after Kansas City standoff
A Kansas City man is charged with second-degree murder in a shooting on an Amtrak train that left one man dead last month.
Marquise L. Webb, 21, was arrested Monday following an armed standoff with Kansas City police after they tracked him to a residence at the Citadel Apartments by monitoring his cellphone. He was charged Tuesday in Jackson County Circuit Court with five felonies, including vehicle hijacking, unlawful weapon use and two counts of armed criminal action.
Webb is accused in the fatal shooting of Richie Aaron, a 30-year-old father of three from Independence.
The shooting unfolded on Jan. 14 around 9:15 p.m. as an Amtrak train was pulling into the station in Lee’s Summit at 3rd and Main streets. Afterward, the train continued on to Independence. Aaron was pronounced dead there by responding emergency medical personnel, police have said.
In the train car where Aaron was shot, investigators found a bullet hole on the rear left side of Seat 38. Aaron’s belongings were still on him. They also found a gray jacket believed to have been worn by the suspect.
Several witnesses riding the train were interviewed. One passenger told police three gunshots had rang out at some point during the trip, and the shooter was seen standing over Aaron who said: “That’s what you get,” according to charging documents.
Police also spoke to a conductor for Amtrak who recalled a brief conversation with Webb. Investigators determined based on the train’s manifest that he was one of four passengers on the train who did not transfer to a bus bound for Kansas City despite being scheduled to.
Shortly after the shooting, a 2015 Dodge Charger was stolen at gunpoint outside Konrad’s Kitchen and Taphouse in Lee’s Summit. The driver called police and reported the theft, saying the suspect had put a gun to his head and taken off in the car.
Detectives connected the carjacking and shooting early on. In mid-January, a court-order was issued allowing a phone number associated with Webb to be tracked by law enforcement. Historical tracking data showed Webb’s phone following the path of the Amtrak train up until the Lee’s Summit station, where it deviated course, according to court records.
A search warrant was granted for a residence in the Citadel Apartment complex based on location information, which was served Monday in Kansas City under a cooperation between both agencies.
As the search warrant was being served at the apartment complex, a detective identified Webb and an armed standoff ensued. Police allege Webb barricaded himself inside and pointed a handgun at officers.
The standoff ended Monday after Webb surrendered to police. Inside the residence, police seized as evidence a gray backpack, a 9mm firearm magazine, an ID for Webb and a 9mm handgun.
