Police in Kansas City reopen a 1999 homicide case

Investigators are taking a second look at an unsolved homicide from 1999, a Kansas City police spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday.

They are looking again at the death of Eugene Counce, who died in a February 1999 house fire in Kansas City. No one was ever charged. Police consider Counce’s death an unsolved homicide.

Relatives of Counce urged police to take a new look at his death after a Jan. 8 fire that injured two and destroyed a three-story apartment building near 27th Street and Benton Boulevard.

Prosecutors charged Loukesha Smith with arson.

Smith, according to Counce family members, escaped the 1999 fire that destroyed a home in the 4200 block of Cloon Avenue.

Yvonne Williamson, Counce’s mother, welcomed news of her son’s death getting a second look. She recently received a call from a Kansas City detective regarding the 1999 case, she said.

“I just still want to know what happened and why,” Williamson said. “These are still unanswered questions.”

Although Counce and Smith had been friends since childhood, Williamson said she remains uncertain about her son’s relationship with Smith at the time of the 1999 fire.

This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Police in Kansas City reopen a 1999 homicide case."