Man killed in stabbing after argument at Kansas City gas station is 102nd homicide this year
A 42-year-old man was stabbed to death following an argument at a local gas station on Tuesday afternoon, police say.
After receiving a call of a stabbing just before 2:30, police found a man inside a gas station on U.S. Highway 40 near Independence “suffering from apparent bodily trauma,” according to a news release from Captain Corey Carlisle, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department.
The man was declared dead on the scene by paramedics.
A suspect initially fled the scene, but Carlisle said detectives had a person of interest in custody later in the day.
Because the stabbing appeared to be the result of an argument, the police captain said there is no ongoing threat to the public.
“An argument should never end in taking someone’s life,” Carlisle told reporters at the scene.
Neither the victim nor the suspect were initially identified by police. But relatives who gathered at the gas station Tuesday afternoon identified the victim as 42-year-old Jon Rone, Jr.
On Thursday, family members created an online fundraiser to help cover the cost of Rone’s funeral.
Jesús Aguilar was at the gas station and witnessed the altercation, which he said took place outdoors. Aguilar told The Star that a white man was arguing with a Black man and repeatedly used a racial slur.
Moments later, he says Rone came inside the gas station bleeding from multiple stab wounds. Several acquaintances, including Rone’s girlfriend Misty Beck, told The Star that they were inside the gas station at the time.
“They came running out and they said that somebody had been stabbed,” said Logan Todd, another bystander. “I said I knew CPR, so I came inside and I did chest compressions.”
Todd said that Rone had two stab wounds, both near the heart. He recalled that there were around seven people in the gas station as he performed CPR.
“I took his pulse as soon as I got on the scene, and I knew he was dead,” Todd said. “He was gone before I got here, I think. I just knew that I was trying to save a dead man.”
Police would not comment on whether the crime may have been racially motivated.
The holiday stabbing marks the 102nd homicide in Kansas City this year, according to a list collected by The Star. It is the 125th homicide in the metro area.
Police ask anyone with information about the stabbing to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043. Anonymous calls can be placed to the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
This story was originally published July 4, 2023 at 4:33 PM.
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