GRANDVIEW, Mo. – A man has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection to the death of 27-year-old mother Lynnette Williams.
Kasanova Callier was Williams’s partner and is the father of her son.
According to a probable cause statement from Grandview police, officers went to the 6000 block of 119th Street on reports of a deceased person on fire late Sunday night.
When they got there, officers saw a private security car parked near a dumpster, where what appeared to be a body was lying face down, burning. The officers extinguished the fire.
Police saw what looked like a drag mark through the snow that led from the body to a stairwell. There was another drag mark that ran parallel which led to a black plastic trash bag on another side of the dumpster.
The officers followed the trails and saw what they believed to be puddles of blood on the stairs along with a container of makeup.
That’s when they established a crime scene and called Grandview detectives to the scene.
As the detectives searched the property, they learned that witnesses had heard a disturbance in one of the apartments.
One witness said when she got home, she saw Callier putting things into the trunk of his white Chevy Impala. She told detectives that a woman and child young enough to need a car seat lived with him.
Detectives forced their way into his apartment to check on the child since no one answered the door.
They didn't find anyone inside but found what appeared to be blood on the floor in the living room.
According to the probable cause statement, everyone left the apartment at that time to get a search warrant.
When the medical examiner got to the scene, they examined the body and found it to match a photo of Williams.
The medical examiner said she had deep cuts on her throat in addition to a stab wound to the abdomen.
Officers later saw Callier getting out of his car at the complex and took him into custody. He had his and Williams’s infant child with him.
Once investigators got the search warrant, they began processing the scene and found a bloody shoe print in a unique pattern that was very similar to the shoes Callier was wearing as he was taken into custody.
Several cleaning appliances in the house were tested, and blood was found on the handle of a Swiffer mop. A stain was also found on a knife in the dishwasher.
When police interviewed Callier, he called Williams a “whore,” and “bad mother” who tried to shake their child, and made statements about wanting to kill the baby.
Callier went on to say “whatever happened to her was supposed to happen,” and “I never put myself in a position to lose over a whore.”
Callier told detectives that Williams tried to stab him, so he had to kill her.
He later took the statement back, and said he didn’t have an emotional attachment to Williams, but only cared about his $500 deposit and child.
According to the probable cause statement, Callier wasn’t able to tell detectives where he was at the time of Williams’s death.
He did say he felt that he had to get away from her, so he loaded up the Impala and took the baby. Investigators later searched the car and found blood on the brake pedal and the floor. A pair of shoes in the car also had blood on them.
Grandview police reported a number of domestic disturbances at that apartment between the couple.
One of those was called in by Jacqueline Howard, a neighbor.
"One morning I was getting ready for work, and I heard screaming. 'Stop, no, stop,'" Howard described.
When she arrived at her apartment Sunday night and saw the police lights, Howard said her first thought was of the woman who lived upstairs. She now wonders if there's something more she could have done.
"I just broke down, because I felt like did I do something wrong? Could I have helped her?" Howard asked through tears.
In light of what happened, Howard encourages anyone who overhears a domestic disturbance to call 911. As she said, you never know when you could be saving someone's life.
