Charges link second resident to December double homicide in south Kansas City
Days after his co-defendant was sentenced, a second Kansas City resident has been charged in connection with a double homicide last year.
Terrell Simpson, 20, was charged with two counts of accessory to first-degree murder, as well as two counts of armed criminal actions, in the shooting deaths of Deontae Marchbanks, 19, and Cierra Pennington, 17, in December in south Kansas City.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced the charges Thursday, though court records indicate Simpson was charged in January, with his case file sealed until Thursday.
Linda Ater, 18, was sentenced Monday to 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges including second-degree murder in Marchbanks and Pennington’s death. At least one other suspect has been identified by police but not publicly identified or charged as of Thursday.
Marchbanks and Pennington were shot on Dec. 9, outside an apartment building in the Citadel neighborhood of Kansas City. Police responded to the building in the 6000 block of Blue Hills Road around 3:30 p.m. and found Marchbanks and Pennington unresponsive in a car with multiple gunshot wounds. Marchbanks was pronounced dead at the scene and Pennington was pronounced dead the same night.
According to court documents, Marchbanks and Pennington arrived at the parking lot with Ater in the same car, and Ater approached and conversed with the rest of the suspects in another car before turning back and shooting at Marchbanks and Pennington. When her gun jammed or malfunctioned, Simpson allegedly began firing his own gun at Marchbanks and Pennington, court records read.
After Pennington escaped the car and tried to flee the scene, Simpson chased her across the parking lot and shot her repeatedly, according to court documents.
According to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, Simpson, like Ater, had previously been identified as a potential participant in violence deterrence programs run by SAVE KC, a campaign of targeted outreach programs for people at high risk for involvement in crime.
Prosecutors believe that Simpson and Ater were part of the same “group associated with ongoing criminal activity” for an extended period of time before the shooting, according to court documents.
Simpson is not currently eligible for bond. His next appearance in Jackson County Court has not yet been scheduled, according to court records.
Marchbanks and Pennington’s deaths were the 141st and 142nd homicides reported in Kansas City in 2024, according to data collected by The Star.
