Jackson County jury finds Kansas City man guilty in 2019 shooting that killed 3
A 47-year-old man was found guilty Thursday by a Jackson County jury for a triple murder that occurred in Kansas City’s Oak Park neighborhood.
Victor S. Sykes, of Kansas City, was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder and three other felony counts of armed criminal action. He and Lynnsey D. Jones, identified as his girlfriend by authorities, stood trial separately in the killings of Larry Barnes, 40; Brandy Jones, 38; and Larona Jones, 42.
On Oct. 17, 2019, Kansas City patrol officers responded to the 4500 block of Benton Boulevard after they heard gunfire coming from the area, according to court documents,
As the officers arrived, Jones was seen holding a rifle and detained. Sykes allegedly ran from the area and was apprehended a short distance away.
Barnes was found dead on the ground in the 4500 block of Benton. Responding officers then noticed a door ajar at a home, leading them to find the other two victims shot. Both were also pronounced dead at the scene.
During her initial police interview, Lynnsey Jones said she was buying drugs in the 4500 block of Benton and witnessed Sykes get into a fight with one of the gunshot victims. After learning Sykes was arrested, she said the rifle was hers and that she shot all three people, offering as a reason: “Because I’m a bad person.”
Sykes denied involvement in the shooting when questioned by police.
At the time of the shooting, Sykes was on parole for a separate killing that occurred in Wyandotte County in 1992. He had been convicted of murder in 1993, ordered to incarceration in the Kansas Department of Corrections and granted out-of-state parole in October 2018.
Under Missouri law, each first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In December 2021, Lynnsey Jones, 38, was convicted of three first-degree murder charges and received three life sentences plus 30 years.
Sykes is scheduled to be sentenced April 4.
