Kansas City man allegedly told wife to ‘line up,’ killed her in front of her son
Jackson County prosecutors have charged a man with murder and other crimes in the fatal shooting of his wife in front of her son in her Kansas City home.
Mantonia M. Duncan, 40, is accused of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Jami Duncan, who was found shot to death in a home in the North Town Fork Creek neighborhood. He also faces a single felony count of unlawful firearm possession.
Mantonia Duncan was arrested within an hour of the shooting after he reportedly showed up drunk at a relative’s home, according to court documents. As of Thursday, he was being held in the Jackson County jail on a $100,000 bond.
Kansas City police officers were dispatched around 11 p.m. Monday to the 3400 block of East 54th Street for a medical call. A woman was found dead on the kitchen floor of multiple gunshot wounds to her head and body.
Crime scene investigators collected nine spent shell casings and a firearm found near Jami Duncan’s body, according to a court document filed Tuesday. Two apparent bullet holes were found in the space of the floor where her head lay.
Police officers spoke with a 911 caller who told them she drove to Jami Duncan’s house after Mantonia Duncan’s brother told her he had killed someone there. She said she tried to get inside and called police after she walked in.
Another witness told police Mantonia Duncan had talked about arguing with his wife over her daughter recently moving in and his wife “trying to run the house.” He was also talking about how he “f----- up” and was “going to prison,” the witness told police.
Detectives were also told Jami Duncan’s son was inside the house and had witnessed the shooting. During an interview at the Child Protective Center, the boy said he and his mother were in the kitchen when his stepfather came in from the backyard and demanded she “line up.”
The boy watched him shoot her three times, according to court documents, before running to his bedroom closet to hide so he would “not get killed.”
Mantonia Duncan was taken to KCPD Headquarters on Monday night to speak with detectives. There was apparent blood on his left leg, shorts, shirt, shoes and fingers, according to court documents.
Detectives wrote in charging documents that Mantonia Duncan “appeared to have an unknown medical issue” and was taken to the hospital instead of being interviewed.
Online court records did not list a defense attorney for Mantonia Duncan as of Thursday.
This story was originally published July 20, 2023 at 10:49 PM.
