Prosecutors confirm death of suspected Kansas City highway shooter, dismiss charges
Prosecutors in both Wyandotte County and Jackson County have confirmed that Oscar Sanchez-Munoz, the man accused of firing shots at vehicles along Kansas City roadways and killing one man in June, is dead.
Kansas City police said last week they believed a body found in Sanchez-Munoz’s Independence home belonged to the man.
In a statement on Monday, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said her office was dismissing charges it had filed on June 23 just minutes before it was notified that a body had been found in the home. She said the body had been confirmed to be Sanchez-Munoz.
“Because the suspect has now been identified as deceased and the legal process for holding a defendant accountable in court can no longer proceed, the typical next step is to dismiss the case,” Johnson said. “While the case is closed, our commitment to the victims and their families does not end here.”
“We are proud to have worked with the Kansas City Police Department and Independence Police Department throughout this investigation, and we remain committed to that close collaboration as we continue to hold accountable those who cause harm in our community,” she said.
Jazzlyn Johnson, a spokesperson for Johnson, said in an email that Sanchez-Munoz had been charged with one count of second-degree felony murder, five counts of unlawful use of a weapon and five counts of armed criminal action.
In a court filing in Wyandotte County District Court on Monday, prosecutors moved to dismiss a pair of charges — two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm recklessly at an occupied vehicle — they had filed against Sanchez-Munoz earlier this month, saying, “Defendant is deceased.” A judge then dismissed the charges, according to court records.
Those charges resulted from a June 11 shooting in Kansas City, Kansas, that police linked to Sanchez-Munoz in which a vehicle was struck by gunfire. No one was injured in that incident.
The Jackson County charges came after police accused Sanchez-Munoz in a series of shootings in Kansas City that left one man, Jeremy Keenan, dead and four others injured on June 16. Police tracked the man to his home in Independence, and after a standoff and a fire at the house, investigators hadn’t been able to find the man. After a manhunt that lasted for several days, police said family members who were working at the home found the body.
