KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, man is being held without bond in a central Kansas jail in connection to the deaths of three women early Sunday morning in the Northland.
At a Monday morning press conference, authorities announced the women were all related and lived in the house together.
The women were identified as 73-year-old Sherri Duncan, 49-year-old Jodie Hopcus and 24-year-old Hailey Hopcus, who were a grandmother, mother and daughter, respectively.
Another daughter was injured in the shooting but was able to ask a neighbor to call 911, authorities said.
Around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, police received a phone call from that neighbor on the 4100 block of NW 65th Street.
When officers and paramedics arrived, they discovered the three women deceased.
Early Monday morning, Platte County prosecutors charged Armando Navarro Jr., 50, with three counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed criminal action, one count of first-degree assault and one count of animal abuse.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said Navarro was the ex-boyfriend of the mother, Jodie Hopcus. According to court documents, there was a dispute about whether Navarro would continue staying at the residence.
Court documents revealed that after the shooting, Navarro left the house in a white 2020 Ford Expedition with a California license plate that had been issued to one of the victims. Police put out a bulletin to law enforcement agencies across the region.
Law enforcement eventually located the truck, which had broken down in Abilene, Kansas. Navarro was with the truck when Kansas Highway Patrol troopers arrived.
Zahnd noted that over the next several weeks, he will decide if this case will be a death penalty case.
"Whatever decision I ultimately make, [it] falls heaviest on the surviving family members," Zahnd said.
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