Kansas City man faces murder, kidnapping charges in 52-year-old’s killing
A Kansas City man is charged with felony murder and kidnapping in the death of 52-year-old Gilberto Gutierrez, whose body was discovered with several stab wounds and wrapped in a blue cloth near a park last spring.
Ahmad R. Herring, 31, is charged with second-degree felony murder, first-degree kidnapping, robbery, abandonment of a corpse and four counts of armed criminal action, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced Tuesday. The charges against Herring were filed earlier this month and unsealed this week, prosecutors said.
The body of Gutierrez was found after a report was made to police on May 17. Police were dispatched to the intersection of 56th Terrace and Elmwood Avenue, where they found Gutierrez roughly one week after his family reported that he had disappeared under suspicious circumstances.
Gutierrez was in a state of decomposition when authorities found him. He suffered several stab wounds to his thighs, chest and head, a detective wrote in charging documents for Herring.
According to court records, the Gutierrez family reported to police that their father went missing on May 11 and his car was parked in the driveway. Inside a barn there was bloody clothing that apparently belonged to him and a zip tie on the ground. His cell phone and keys were missing.
One witness told police he had a brief phone conversation with Gutierrez on the morning of the disappearance. Later that day he received a call from a man using the victim’s cell phone saying Gutierrez had been kidnapped and demanding $100,000 ransom. The witness also said he heard what sounded like a person being beaten.
Police reviewed surveillance tapes and received tips that led them to focus on a white Dodge Charger associated with Herring. Another witness associated with Gutierrez reported to police that Herring had attempted to kidnap him at gunpoint before robbing him and fleeing instead, court records state.
That witness provided a photograph of a vehicle, including its license plate. On May 14 police attempted to pull the car over and Herring was arrested after a police pursuit.
Inside the trunk they found containers of bleach, vinegar and ammonia. There was also a receipt for a blue cloth similar to the one Gutierrez body was wrapped in, according to court records.
A property search was done in the 5400 block of Hardesty Avenue after an anonymous tip was made saying Gutierrez had been held there. Along the north wall of a shed police discovered a zip tie that appeared to have been cut on one end. The flooring inside the shed appeared to have been newly and haphazardly redone, court records state.
DNA results indicated “very strong support” that Herring’s was one of the profiles found on the zip tie, according to court records. Gutierrez’s DNA is believed to have contributed blood on white trash bags found inside the garage.
Herring was on parole for first-degree manslaughter at the time of Gutierrez’s killing.
In 2019, Herring pleaded guilty to the manslaughter charge, which resulted from the fatal drive-by shooting of a man near the corner of 33rd Street and Wabash Avenue.
The victim, Robert E. Exford, 41, was found fatally shot inside a vehicle there, where 18 shell casings were also recovered. Herring was accused of driving a rental vehicle involved in the shooting.
Records show Herring was sentenced to five years in Missouri prison for that crime.
Herring has been in the Jackson County Detention Center since last May after he was arrested for fleeing police. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year of imprisonment in the county jail.
