KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After two Wyandotte County juries could not reach a decision in a 2015 Kansas City, Kansas murder case, Jackson County prosecutors charged Antoine Fielder with murder.
The murder is in connection to a Dec. 26, 2017 shooting in Kansas City, Missouri in the 600 block of Spruce Avenue.
Prosecutors say Fielder shot and killed Rosemarie Harmon and injured her male friend. He is also charged with assault and armed criminal action.
“We work together regularly and mostly we want Mr. Fielder to know that we are working together,” said Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker in a press conference Wednesday.
According to court documents, Harmon approached a dark-colored, four-door vehicle before running and hiding behind a couch. The vehicle drove away when her friend went over to check on her. But 70 seconds later, the car returned and a man stepped out firing shots at the friend.
The incident was captured on a nearby surveillance camera.
Baker said Kansas City homicide detectives were contacted by police in Kansas City, Kansas about a potential suspect the department had arrested in connection to a robbery.
KCK police recovered a 9mm handgun beneath the driver’s seat of the car Fielder was driving when they arrested him for the robbery. According to the court documents, the shell casings collected at the murder matched the gun.
Court documents also reveal a woman told Kansas City police that Fielder showed her a news story “from four murders he had committed on his cellular phone.”
“We are done tolerating any harm or threats that come to our witnesses, collectively in all of our cases,” said Baker.
The Wyandotte County Prosecutor’s Office also charged Fielder with unlawfully possessing a weapon and two counts of tampering with a witness.
District Attorney Mark Dupree said Wednesday threats of harm to witnesses could have contributed to the two hung juries in the 2015 murder case.
“I think that witnesses intimidation indeed played a role in a lot of things. Do I think I saw it as prevalent as I do now? No. Did it play a part? Yes,” said Dupree.
In 2015, Kelsey Ewonus was found shot and killed inside her car in Kansas City, Kansas.
Police arrested Fielder and charged him with her murder. The case went to trial two times and both ended in a hung jury. The Wyandotte County Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the case and consequently, Fielder was released from jail.
“I don’t blame the Wyandotte County Prosecutor’s office at all. They did a good job. When juries look at evidence and do not want to believe evidence, what are you left with?” said Kent Ewonus, Kelsey’s father. “I knew he would commit more crimes and that’s exactly what happened.”
Dupree said refiling charges in the 2015 case is still a possibility.
