Lee’s Summit man, 23, is charged with murder in his father’s shooting: prosecutors
Jackson County prosecutors have charged a 23-year-old man with murder for allegedly shooting his father in the back of the head at close range in their Lee’s Summit home on Wednesday evening.
Michael E. Hamilton, of Lee’s Summit, is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of Robert Hamilton, prosecutors announced Friday. He was arrested in Cooper County on Thursday, and local prosecutors have requested he be held on $300,000 bond.
According to charging documents, Lee’s Summit police officers were dispatched around 9:20 p.m. to the 1100 block of S.W. Arborfair Drive to investigate a reported death. Inside the house was Robert Hamilton, on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood, as his wife lay on top of him crying, a detective wrote in court papers.
Witnesses on scene interviewed by police included the elder Hamilton’s wife and daughter. His wife told police she last communicated with Robert Hamilton around three hours before she got back home from work, and found him that way when she came through the front door.
Witnesses told police Michael Hamilton had been living with his father for only the past couple of weeks, and described the relationship between them as tense. Police were also told the younger Hamilton struggled with mental health issues.
The cause of death was not readily apparent to investigators on scene. The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office issued a preliminary report Thursday morning saying that a bullet had been recovered from the body, and the cause of death was a single gunshot wound from a 9mm.
Police canvassed the area for surveillance footage. Neighbors provided video from a doorbell camera that showed Michael Hamilton’s Chevy pickup truck leaving the residence around 7 p.m., according to court records.
Police began tracking Michael Hamilton on Wednesday night through cell phone traces and license plate-reading cameras. Authorities allege he drove into Kansas on the evening his father was killed before doubling back east toward central Missouri.
As his cell phone was pinged about 50 miles west of Columbia on Thursday, a stop order was issued for Michael Hamilton as a person of interest. He was pulled over by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Cooper County Sheriff’s Department deputies and placed under arrest there.
Authorities allege two firearms were found in Michael Hamilton’s possession: a .380 handgun on his hip and a 9mm handgun in the center console, which had a spent shell casing stuck in the chamber. Both guns, and some of Michael Hamilton’s clothing, appeared to have blood on them, according to court papers.
Separately, investigators served a search warrant at the Lee’s Summit home late Thursday morning. On the property inventory list were two handwritten notes taken as evidence.
One note contained the phrases “I cleaned this” and “He was abusive,” authorities allege. The other, found in a notebook in Michael Hamilton’s bedroom, said: “I didn’t want this!!!”
Both of the notes also contained drawings of frowny faces, according to court records.
Investigators had both of the guns recovered from Michael Hamilton tested at the Kansas City Police Department Crime Lab. The lab issued a ballistics report confirming that the 9mm handgun was a match for the murder weapon, authorities allege.
As of Friday, court papers did not list a defense attorney who could speak on Michael Hamilton’s behalf.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 6:28 PM.
