Man sentenced for kidnapping, shooting near Dunn Park that left one woman dead
A Kansas City man was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday for his role in a 2023 kidnapping near Dunn Park in Kansas City that left one woman dead.
In a news release Tuesday, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced that 44-year-old Jean Felix was sentenced to 30 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. Felix had been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree assault for his role in the fatal shooting of 40-year-old Ronnisha Danner on Oct. 17, 2023.
Felix was found guilty under an Alford Plea, the news release said. An Alford plea allows defendants in criminal court cases to maintain their innocence in relation to an alleged crime, while simultaneously agreeing to plead guilty, according to the United States Department of Justice.
On Oct 17, 2023, officers with the Kansas City Police Department responded to the area of East 65th Street and The Paseo around 9:45 p.m. after a caller reported a woman was on the ground, according to an affidavit filed in support of Felix’s arrest.
There, they found Danner suffering from gunshot wounds in a front yard, the statement said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators identified Danner as a woman who had been kidnapped earlier in the evening, the statement said. Just before 9 p.m., officers responded to reports of a shooting near East 44th Street and Montgall Avenue, where they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to an area hospital for treatment.
A witness told investigators Felix had been stalking Danner around the time of her death, according to the statement. The woman said Felix showed up at an apartment that night, where he started tapping on a window.
The woman and a man in the apartment went to see what Felix wanted, and to ask him to leave, the document said. Felix appeared to indicate he wanted to fight, and as the pair turned to go back inside the residence, Felix fired a gun, striking the man in the torso.
According to the probable cause statement, the woman said Felix then grabbed Danner in a “headlock-like hold” and dragged her into a vehicle.
The man injured in the incident indicated Danner and Felix may have been in a romantic relationship at one point in time, the statement said.
Surveillance footage from the apartment revealed another, unidentified, individual was waiting in nearby bushes throughout the incident, according to the probable cause statement.
After the interaction, Felix forced Danner into the backseat of a Chevrolet Caprice, which he also entered before the second individual drove away. The vehicle was later seen leaving the area where Danner’s body was found.
In a search of the vehicle, investigators found shell casings matching those found at the scene and blood in the car’s backseat, according to the probable cause statement.
Both the witness and the man injured in the incident identified Felix as the shooter, the statement said.
