Independence man sentenced to 30 years for killing woman who was mistakenly targeted
An Independence man was sentenced Friday for the fatal shooting of a 71-year-old woman, who police believe was mistakenly targeted.
Dakkota Siders, 28, was accused of shooting and killing Barbara J. Harper in January 2019, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said. He was convicted of second-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a firearm.
Kansas City police responded to reports of an injured driver at 3 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2019, near Interstate 70 and the I-35 entrance ramp.
When they arrived, officers found Harper dead in her car from a gunshot wound. Holes from gunfire were in the headrest of the passenger’s seat. Both the driver’s seat window and the passenger’s seat window were broken and shell casings were found near the road, according to court records.
Surveillance obtained from city cameras showed another vehicle speeding behind Harper’s car. Her car was seen swerving into a guardrail and gunshots could be heard, court records said.
Shortly after, the vehicle behind her was seen exiting Interstate 70 onto Harrison Street.
Two gunshots were heard in another video of the scene obtained by police, according to court records.
Police identified the license plate number of the vehicle trailing Harper’s car and traced it back to Siders’ home.
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 Harper was mistakenly targeted by Siders following the disturbance at the Shady Lady.
At the Friday sentencing hearing, Harper’s brother John Edmonds said they had planned on visiting their sick sibling in Michigan before she died.
“Barbara loved to laugh, could tell a good joke and had a love of life,” Edmonds said.
A Jackson County judge sentenced Siders to 30 years for the murder conviction, five years on the armed criminal action counts and 15 years on the weapons charge, to be served concurrently.
An attorney for Siders did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
