Clothing, surveillance video allegedly link man to fatal Kansas City shooting: police
Prosecutors have charged a Kansas City man who investigators say they linked to the fatal shooting of another man near the intersection of 38th and Wyandotte streets last week.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker’s office announced Tyron Lee Sims, 60, of Kansas City, is charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action in the shooting death of 45-year-old Willie Spencer on the morning of March 20, according to a news release Tuesday.
Police were called to the shooting scene around 5 a.m. March 20 after shots were heard in the area. First responders found Spencer unresponsive in the street, and he was declared dead at the scene. Police said he had been shot twice.
Surveillance video showed Spencer had been walking in the area and had been chased by a man, a Kansas City police detective wrote in court documents.
The suspect, described as wearing a black hat, a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and what appeared to be a ring on his pinky finger, could be seen approaching Spencer, pausing and then running away, the detective wrote.
Using surveillance footage, investigators tracked the suspect back to an apartment.
Police were granted a search warrant for the residence on Friday, and they recovered mail and medication bottles with Sims’ name on them, as well as a box of shotgun slugs, a live .223-caliber cartridge, a black hat, black pants and black and gold Nike Air Max shoes that matched those worn by the suspect, the detective wrote. Investigators also found a pistol case and an empty box for a .40-caliber pistol in the apartment. At the time he was arrested, Sims was wearing rings on both pinky fingers.
In an interview with investigators, Sims denied having shot the other man or having a reason to shoot him, but allegedly went on to explain that the other man had “stolen from him specifically and raped associates of his,” the detective stated. They also said Sims denied he had left his apartment the night of the shooting, but alleged he later recanted and said he had left earlier in the evening.
Sims also allegedly denied owning the sweatshirt and sweatpants recovered from his apartment, but did say he owned a pair of black and gold Nike Air Max shoes.
No defense attorney was listed for Sims in court records. A bond review hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
