‘Almost incomprehensible’: Former Kansas City police officer sentenced to life in Walmart killing
By Chloe Godding, JoBeth Davis
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — A former Kansas City, Missouri, Police Officer will spend life in prison after the murder of a 71-year-old man in a Walmart parking lot in 2024.
Taquiza Johnson, 49, who was an officer with the Kansas City Police Department for 10 years, was convicted of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Ronald Barnett, 71, earlier this summer.
On Monday, Johnson received a life sentence for the second-degree murder of Barnett, and an additional 15-year sentence for armed criminal action. By law, that armed criminal action sentence must run consecutively to the life sentence.
“It is almost incomprehensible that a brazen shooting like this could even happen in a busy Walmart parking lot during the middle of the day,” said Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd. “By recommending the life sentence for murder, the twelve jurors in this case made an emphatic statement that crimes like this will be met with strict justice in Platte County.”
On Aug. 21, 2024, Johnson and Barnett got into an argument that was not physical in the parking lot of Walmart on North Boardwalk Avenue in Kansas City. The argument reportedly began because Johnson believed Barnett drove too close to him while Johnson was in the crosswalk.
After exchanging words, Barnett drove away and parked in an accessible parking spot. Johnson followed Barnett and got out with a gun behind his back, according to prosecutors. After another exchange, Johnson shot Barnett before driving away.
Barnett died at a hospital.
Johnson and the defense argued that Barnett threatened his life and used “racial epithets,” but Johnson reportedly said during the trial that he saw no weapon on Barnett’s person.
“The law on self-defense in Missouri is clear. Verbal threats are not enough. Name-calling is not enough,” Zahnd said in a news release.
Johnson was a KCPD officer from 2004 to 2014.
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