KANSAS CITY, Mo. — No charges will be filed against the man who shot and killed John Bartrom, who owned Jericho Home Improvements, Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker said Friday.
Peters Baker said that after reviewing the case, her office found that the unidentified man who killed Bartrom acted in self-defense.
The killing happened just after midnight on Jan. 7, 2024, near East 63rd Street and Prospect Avenue.
Officers responded to the scene and found Batrom dead in the parking lot of a business in the area.
Investigators found the man who shot Bartrom after the pair were involved in a struggle.
Bartrom allegedly tried to pull the man from his vehicle.
The relationship between the two wasn't immediately clear, and there isn't any clarification on what led to the violence.
"Evidence showed the man who shot Bartrom fired a handgun after Bartrom struggled with the man and Bartrom tried to pull the man from his vehicle. Jackson County prosecutors came to this legal conclusion in consultation with police detectives," a release from the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney office said.
Bartrom owned Jericho Home Improvements, which is located in Kansas City, Kansas.
KSHB 41 received a statement from Nora Schwartz, the sister of Bartrom on the decision from the prosecutor.
Schwartz expressed disappointment in the way her brother's case has been handled.
“We are disappointed in the way John's case has been handled," she said in the statement. "We have received very little communication from the police and prosecuting attorney's office. Then the statement reported this afternoon is not the information we have been given from their party. We were never told John was aggressive or trying to pull the man from the vehicle. The prosecutor said they could only go by the shooter's story because they can't disprove his statement. We want to see the video footage. Though now, that the case is closed, we are being told that even that evidence doesn't really show what happened that night, because of the angle of the camera. We were just told today that the shooter was on duty as an Uber driver when the shooting took place. They are using the Castle Doctrine to let the shooter walk free without any charges. And that since the victim died before telling his side of the story, the only story that matters is the shooters. This is so sad and not how our justice system should work.”
Asked about the concerns from the family, a spokesperson for the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney said, "out of respect for the victim, we will issue no further comment regarding the application of the law to the specific facts in this matter."
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