Jury finds Independence man guilty of killing 71-year-old, reportedly targeted by mistake
An Independence man has been convicted of killing a 71-year-old woman, who police believe was mistakenly targeted in a 2019 shooting.
A Jackson County jury found Dakkota Siders, 28, guilty of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of armed criminal action on Thursday, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Kansas City police were dispatched at about 3 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2019, to Interstate 70 near the I-35 entrance ramp on calls of an injured driver.
When officers arrived, they found 71-year-old Barbra J. Harper dead in her car from a gunshot wound. According to court records, the headrest of the passenger’s seat had multiple holes from gunfire and both the driver and passenger side windows were broken. Shell casings were also found near the road.
Surveillance video obtained from city cameras showed another vehicle speeding behind Harper’s. Her car was seen swerving into the road’s guardrail and gunshots could be heard, court records said.
The speeding vehicle exited the highway onto Harrison Street. Police tracked the vehicle’s license plate to a residence. Siders was seen pulling into the driveway of the home in the tracked vehicle.
Officers arrested Siders and discovered he had a gun in his waistband and another under his armpit, prosecutors said.
As police continued their investigation, they found shell casings fired at a shooting at the Shady Lady on East 12th Street shortly before the highway shooting matched casings from the homicide. Police believe that the 71-year-old was mistakenly targeted by Siders following the disturbance at the Shady Lady.
Siders has a sentencing hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 15.
