KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Jackson County judge sentenced a man Friday to 22 years in prison for the June 2024 murder of a woman in Kansas City, Missouri.
Richard Harris, Jr., 38, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Taylor Thomas, 29.
The shooting happened at about 12:45 a.m. on June 17 in the 3200 block of Linwood Boulevard.
Police officers found Thomas on the ground on the east side of Walrond Avenue. She was taken to a hospital and died a few days later.
Less than a week after Thomas died, detectives interviewed a woman who said she saw the shooting.
She told police she saw "Rich" attack and beat Thomas because Thomas wasn't "doing what he wanted her to do," a court document states.
The woman told police that Harris then shot Thomas twice, the court document states.
Detectives found surveillance video that showed several minutes of interactions between Harris and Thomas.
Just before the fatal shooting, Thomas walks away from Harris and can be seen on the video putting her arms up and moving her hands left and right before putting her hands down, according to the court document.
Harris is seen on the video with his right arm fully extended and pointing a gun at the victim.
The video shows Harris catch up to Taylor and hit her in the back of her head.
Harris grabs Taylor with his left hand, holds her as he drags her to the ground before shooting her in the head, according to the court document.
Police arrested Harris on July 8, 2024. He was taken to police headquarters and was advised of his Miranda rights.
He fell asleep before detectives could get any information other than his name and date of birth, the court document states.
Detectives tried again to question him the next day, but he said he did not understand his Miranda rights and that he was high, the court document states.
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