Jury deliberates if KC man to get death penalty for NKC police officer’s murder
An outside jury, brought in to a Clay County courtroom from across the state in St. Charles County, is deliberating whether to sentence convicted murderer Joshua Rocha to death by execution in the capital murder trial for the killing of North Kansas City officer Daniel Vasquez in July 2022.
Rocha is the first person Clay County prosecutors have sought the death penalty for since 1994.
Rocha was found guilty of first-degree murder Thursday in a Clay County courtroom, advancing the trial to the sentencing stage. Rocha, 28, is faced with life in prison without parole or probation, or the death penalty.
Dash cam footage played in the courtroom showed Rocha shooting Vasquez three times with an AR-15, including two misfires, during a traffic stop on July 19, 2022, after being pulled over for expired tags. Vasquez’s body was left laying in the middle of the road at Clay Street and East 21st Avenue after Rocha quickly drove away, according to the footage.
Rocha’s defense featured 13 witnesses over the guilt phase and the sentencing phase of the trial who testified on his behalf. Two mental health experts, family members, and other people in Rocha’s life explained how his traumatic background impacted his life.
Rocha never took the witness stand in the trial.
Clay County prosecutors presented more than 30 witnesses, which included investigators, Vasquez’s family and friends, and Rocha’s detention officers.
Their testimonies supplied evidence, such as dash cam footage of the shooting, videos of Rocha shooting and 3-D printing guns, police interviews with Rocha and his mother, and incidents where Rocha was found with contraband in prison.
Some detectives spoke about how investigating a police shooting affected them personally. Vasquez’s loved ones and co-workers described their experiences with Vasquez and how they’ve attempted to cope since his death.
In closing arguments, assistant prosecuting attorneys Spencer Curtis and Robert Sanders slammed testimony from mental health experts who explained Rocha’s mental deficiencies. The mental health experts described how Rocha’s impairments, including mild autism, post-traumatic stress and low intellectual ability, affect his judgment and decision-making.
Curtis and Sanders urged the jury to focus on the decisions that Rocha made by replaying evidence shown throughout the trial.
Videos showed Rocha 3D printing and shooting guns. They showed Rocha spoke with a different affect in videos where he was shooting guns as opposed to his “quiet, meek” police interview, where he spoke in hushed tones with tearful, remorseful sentiments for his actions.
Rocha told investigators he didn’t know why he shot Vasquez, according to video of the interview shown in court. In his mother’s interview with police, she said her son told her he shot a police officer because he feared being going to jail for having a rifle.
“There was no fight. There was no discussion. It was an execution. It was an ambush,” Curtis said.
Curtis drove his point home by picking up the AR-15, as short slides of the dash cam footage showed, and pulling back on the charging handle as it echoed throughout the court.
“That’s Joshua Rocha,” Curtis said as he pointed at the screen with the rifle in his left hand.
“All we’re asking you to do is hold him accountable for his choices,” Sanders said .
Rocha’s public defender, Stephen Reynolds, urged the jury to have mercy on him because of the trauma throughout his life and his impairments. Rocha’s defense did not dispute his actions throughout the trial.
“Either way, Joshua Rocha dies in prison,” Reynolds said. “It’s not forgiveness. It’s not an excuse, just an extension to save somebody’s life.”
Sanders used the state’s final 15 minutes of arguments to strike down the defense and shift the jury to focus solely on Daniel Vazquez.
Prosecutors replayed footage of Rocha shooting guns outside the window of a moving car while saying the N-word, a racist slur commonly used towards Black people.
The maneuver roused up emotion in the room, bringing tears to Vazquez’s loved ones, forcing them to take their emotions outside the courtroom. Vasquez’s sister could be heard screaming from the public area as Sanders conveyed the state’s final message to the jury.
Prosecutors also displayed Vasquez’s police vest with all of the attachments , a move they used in closing arguments in the guilt phase, to drive the point home.
“Don’t ever forget his smile, Sanders said. ”I don’t care if you remember the name Joshua Rocha five years from now. Remember Daniel Vasquez ... Remember the ultimate sacrifice, sentence Joshua Rocha to death.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2025 at 6:09 PM.
