A 35-year-old Crips street gang member has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for illegally possessing a controlled substance and firearms, but prosecutors say evidence indicates he's also responsible for killing five people.
Rashawn Long of Kansas City received an upward departure from sentencing guidelines in U.S. District Court on Thursday because he pleaded guilty in 2001 to a state first-degree murder charge and served 12 years.
In a motion seeking the longer sentence, federal prosecutors said there is evidence he killed four people in 2013 after being released from prison. Among the alleged victims were a mother and her 3-year-old daughter.
Cheryl Turner is still grieving the death of her daughter and granddaughter. She said knowing someone is behind bars would bring her some closure.
"I've had a lot of sleepless nights. Just wondering and waiting, you know, to get some result, some justice out of their murders because they didn't deserve this,” Turner said. "I thought, no matter how much time they give this person, they're not coming back. It's not going to bring them back. But also it's given me some peace to know they've found, or possibly found, who did this."
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas City says the suspected homicides are being investigated at the state level.
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Lexi Sutter can be reached at alexandra.sutter@kshb.com.
