For Immediate Release
11/7/2017
A Kansas City man has been charged in the fatal beating on Oct. 23, 2017 of Lovell J. Smith, whose body was located the following day in an alley in the Northeast area of Kansas City, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.
Joseph M. Parker, dob: 6/24/1981, faces Murder 2nd Degree and Armed Criminal Action charges.*
According to court records, surveillance video of the alley where the victim was found depicted a silver vehicle entering the alley. It also shows the suspect walking in the area carrying a pry bar, believed to be the instrument he used to strike the victim. He is seen wiping it off in the grass. By coincidence, Parker was arrested soon after the murder on outstanding warrants. When he was arrested, he asked the officer, "This is over an argument ain't it?"
Prosecutors requested a bond of $250,000.
For more information, contact:
Michael Mansur
Director of Communication
Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office
Jean Peters Baker, Prosecutor
Work : (816) 881-3812
Mobile: (816) 674-3954
mmansur@jacksongov.org
http://jacksoncountyprosecutor.com
*Charges are only accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until the defendant is either found guilty or has pleaded.