KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man, who was found guilty of the first Kansas City, Missouri murder of 2018, will spend life in prison for the crime.
Aasim Karim, 56, of Kansas City, Missouri, was sentenced Thursday in Jackson County Court to life without parole for his conviction on a first degree murder charge, according to a news release from the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.
The judge also sentenced Karim to 10 years in prison on an armed criminal action charge.
Those sentences are to run concurrently, according to the news release.
Karim shot and killed Thomas Rice III on Jan. 4, 2018, as Rice drove his van east on U.S. 40 Highway near Manchester Avenue, according to a court document.
Rice suffered a gunshot wound to the head and his van crashed into a utility pole.
Police found Rice dead outside the driver's side door of the van, the court document states.
Karim told a man who knew Rice the day before the killing to tell Rice "if him or his people keep messing with my dogs or my car, I'm gonna shoot them or shoot the house up," according to the court document.
Police arrested Karim on Jan. 9.
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