Documents: 93-year-old was stabbed, strangled after suspect walked away from an arson scene
By JoBeth Davis
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) — A Kansas City, Missouri, woman made her first appearance in court Wednesday after being charged in connection with the murder of a 93-year-old woman. Documents state that same suspect is linked to an alleged arson at a home on the same block.
Kelisha Reeves has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of 93-year-old Diana Barco.
Barco was found dead in her home on North Briarcliff Road from apparent bodily trauma on June 9.
Probable cause documents in this case — and a domestic incident at a nearby home — paint a grim tale.
Firefighters wounded while battling blaze at home on North Briarcliff: The Kansas City Fire Department was called to a home near 3800 North Briarcliff Road just before 5:30 p.m. on June 8 to find smoke and flames coming from a single-story home.
That fire displaced one adult and one child who were home at the time of the fire, but were not injured.
Three firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries as a result of fighting this fire.
At the time, the Kansas City Police Department’s Bomb and Arson Unit was called in to investigate.
Body found at nearby home one day later: Police were called to a home in the same block around 11:30 a.m. on June 9 after someone reportedly found a body.
Police said officers were directed to a home where they found a woman suffering from apparent bodily trauma. She was pronounced dead on the scene, and her death was upgraded to a homicide investigation on June 10. Authorities released the information to the public regarding the homicide investigation on June 11.
At the time, KMBC 9 News asked Kansas City police if the two incidents were related. A spokesperson for KCPD said they did not know if the incidents were related, but that investigators were working to develop leads.
Murder charges announced in Briarcliff homicide: On Tuesday, the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office announced that Kelisha Reeves had been charged in connection with the death of a 93-year-old woman.
In a social media post, the office stated that Reeves “caused the death of the victim by acts of homicidal violence” at a residence on Briarcliff Road between June 8 and June 9.
The victim’s name was not initially released, and prosecutors did not say if or how Reeves knew the victim.
Charging documents reveal suspect connection between homicide and arson: Kelisha Reeves was arraigned in a Clay County court on Wednesday. Probable cause documents in the homicide case released around the same time identified Barco and linked Reeves to the nearby arson investigation.
In the documents, authorities state a caretaker had stopped by the home to check on Barco. The caretaker saw Barco’s walker outside of the home but couldn’t find Barco.
As the caretaker was walking through the house, they found Barco’s body inside a bathroom and called 911.
The caretaker told police that things inside the home didn’t look right. Barco’s body was found in the home’s bathtub, while a bench normally sitting in the tub had been pulled out and was sitting next to a window. Someone had thrown a sheet over the window in the bathroom. There was also a picture sitting on that bench that “should not have been in there.”
Forensic examiners noted that it appeared Barco had suffered multiple stab wounds to the back of her head and neck area, and that she had apparently been strangled. Detectives noted the shower head with a hose in the bathroom had been pulled out of the wall and was found near Barco’s body at the scene.
Family members also told police that a single credit card was missing from Barco’s wallet.
Detectives noted in the probable cause documents that a domestic incident with property damaged happened at a nearby home hours before an arson report, and in both cases, Kelisha Reeves was listed as the suspect. Reeves had last been seen walking north from the burning home, saying, “If I can’t have a place to live, neither can you.”
The home where Barco was found was approximately 450 feet north of the home that burned.
In addition, when Reeves was found by police in Jasper County, Missouri, she had a credit card with her believed to be Barco’s.
Documents state that Reeves told detectives a woman living in the area saw her crying and told her to come over to her home and that she would keep Reeves safe. Reeves told police the woman gave her some water to drink and let her sleep on a bench in front of the home. Reeves also said the woman gave her a credit card “to use to get to a safe place far away.”
Prosecutors have requested a $1 million bond in this case.
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