Man charged after allegedly shooting woman in south Kansas City
A Kansas City man is facing a second-degree murder charge after allegedly shooting the mother of his children, according to Jackson County court documents.
Marcus Williams faces one count each of second-degree murder and armed criminal action for his alleged role in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Jaida Purdue, according to court documents.
Kansas City police were dispatched to an apartment building in the 8700 block of Countryshire Lane just before noon Tuesday, police spokesperson Sgt. Phillip DiMartino previously told The Star.
When officers arrived, Williams opened the door of the apartment and asked for help, according to a probable cause statement in support of Williams’ arrest. Officers found Perdue lying on her back inside the doorway, bleeding from the head.
Williams told officers the pair had been arguing and wrestling over a gun when the gun allegedly went off and struck Perdue in the head, according to the probable cause statement. Williams said he contacted police after realizing what happened.
In an interview with police, Williams told officers that the pair had allegedly been involved in an altercation the previous night, according to court documents. Perdue left the apartment “to spend time at her mother’s house and get drunk with her brothers.”
Perdue shared her location with Williams, and the man told officers “he could tell” Perdue was not at her mother’s residence, according to court documents. She returned to the apartment around 6 a.m., allegedly still intoxicated.
Williams spoke to Perdue around 8 a.m., conveying that he was upset she had left and been drunk the previous night without telling him where she was, according to court documents. After an altercation, Williams allegedly left the apartment to walk to a nearby store.
Williams told officers he “attempts to leave often when they are fighting, but when he does, Jaida becomes irate, attempting to prevent him from leaving and telling him that she doesn’t want him to leave her alone with the children,” according to court documents.
He FaceTimed a witness after he left to “vent about the situation,” according to court documents. He eventually returned to the apartment after Perdue asked him to, but the pair continued to argue.
The witness confirmed to police that Williams told her the pair had been in an argument, according to court documents.
Williams told officers he walked outside to the balcony to continue speaking with the witness, but Perdue followed him and took his cellphone, according to court documents. She then locked herself inside the bathroom, giving the witness “her side of the story.”
The witness told officers that she told Perdue to go a different room in the apartment before calling Perdue’s phone, according to court documents.
When Perdue “refused” to come out of the bathroom, Williams decided to leave the apartment to “remove himself from the situation,” according to court documents. He grabbed his wallet and handgun to walk to a nearby store.
The witness told officers Williams asked her to pick him up after he got back, according to court documents.
The man knocked on the bathroom door and told Perdue he was leaving, according to court documents. She then opened the bathroom door and told Williams she was not “letting him leave with the gun, since she had purchased it for him.”
Williams told investigators he was about to leave when Perdue began lunging at him in an attempt to retrieve the gun, according to court documents. He estimated the pair fought for around two minutes “before the gun went off.”
During the altercation, Perdue had fallen backward and was attempting to get up when the gun went off, according to court documents. Williams told officers his finger “must have been on the trigger at some point.”
The witness, who was still on FaceTime during the incident, heard a “pow,” followed by “screaming and the kids crying,” according to court documents.
She said Williams then called her back and told her it was an accident, according to the probable cause statement. He asked the witness to come get his children.
Williams said he began putting pressure on Perdue’s wound and called 911, according to court documents.
Perdue was declared dead at the scene, DiMartino previously told The Star.
Williams is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $200,000 10% bond, according to a news release from the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
No further court dates are set in Williams’ case.
