KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man told Liberty, Mo., police he shot and killed his aunt and mother Tuesday in their Lenexa home.
Luke Howard is charged in Johnson County Court with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his mother, Valerie Howard, and his aunt, Joyce Austin.
Howard went into a Liberty Walgreen's store Tuesday with blood on his clothes and told two pharmacists he needed to turn himself in to the police, according to a court document.
Store staff called Liberty police.
Howard, whose age was not given, told police he shot his aunt because she had evicted him from his Lenexa house, the court document states.
He also told police he shot his mother.
Lenexa Police officers went to a house about 5 a.m. Wednesday in the 15400 block of West 90th Street and found Howard dead on the living room floor. The also found Austin dead on a living room couch, according to the court document.
A relative of Joyce Austin called Lenexa police Wednesday morning to find out if his mother was dead. He told police he knew Howard had a rifle and handgun in the house.
Police had been at the house Monday, February 10. Howard said his mother grabbed his neck and pushed him, the court document states.
Valerie Howard told police Howard was violent toward her in 2021 and that she and Austin locked themselves in their rooms as much as possible.
Howard was in the Clay County Jail Tuesday night.
No word on when he will be returned to Johnson County to face the murder charges.
A judge set Howard's bond at $5 million.
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