KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City man is facing multiple first-degree murder charges after investigators say he shot and killed three women inside a Northland home early Sunday morning.
According to Platte County court records, 50-year-old Armando Navarro Jr. has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed criminal action, one count of first-degree assault, and one misdemeanor charge for animal abuse.
Previous reporting said that on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 2, at about 12:45 a.m., officers went to a home in the Northland near North Merrimac Avenue and Northwest 65th Street on reports of a shooting.
Upon arrival, officers were taken to a nearby home where three women were found unresponsive and suffering from gunshot wounds.
KCPD said emergency responders were called to the scene, and shortly after they arrived, all three women were pronounced dead.
The identities of the three victims were eventually released by law enforcement. According to KCPD, the women were 49-year-old Jodie Hopcus, 73-year-old Sherri Duncan, and 24-year-old Hailey Hopcus.
Later that evening, Kansas City police said a suspect was taken into custody. This suspect was Navarro, court documents said.
A probable cause statement — which includes an interview from a surviving victim with police –said that on the morning of the shooting, Navarro and one of the victims had been fighting.
The surviving victim said she was preparing to go to bed when she heard yelling and a bang.
After the residents heard the sound, they gathered inside the home and asked Navarro to leave, but he refused, court documents said.
According to the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office, the surviving victim lived at the home with her mother, grandmother, sister and her mother’s boyfriend, Navarro.
After being asked to leave the house multiple times, the surviving victim said Navarro left the room where all the women were gathered. She said they all believed he was packing a bag to leave, but he returned shortly after with a gun and a knife.
Court documents said he then started shooting at the women and their family dog.
The surviving victim told police that her mother was shot in the arm, and as she tried to help her, Navarro grabbed a knife. Court documents said that her mother then shielded the surviving victim from Navarro with her own body.
After running out of ammunition in his original handgun, the prosecutor’s office said Navarro grabbed a larger gun and shot the surviving victim’s mother and sister before trying to shoot at her.
However, court documents said Navarro missed, only hitting the surviving victim’s hair. This allowed her to escape to a nearby home where a neighbor called 911.
After the shooting, the surviving victim said she saw Navarro leave the scene in one of the victim’s cars. He was taken into custody by law enforcement and state troopers that morning in Abilene, Kansas — which is about 150 miles west of Kansas City.
According to the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to help a driver whose car was stuck in a ditch near K-15 Highway and 2900 Avenue.
When they arrived, Navarro was seen near the car waiting for a tow truck.
Deputies then left the area and said they would come back to check on him; however, shortly after leaving, the sheriff’s office was told that Navarro was a suspect in a triple homicide that morning.
Deputies, along with the Kansas Highway Patrol, returned to the area and found Navarro still with the car. As law enforcement waited for an armored vehicle to arrive, Navarro ran away but was stopped by K-19 units.
Court documents reported he was found armed with a revolver with five spent shell casings.
The prosecutor’s office said that in addition to the surviving victim’s testimony, Navarro’s son had called KCPD and asked police to check on the women inside the home.
He told officers that Navarro had called him at about 2 a.m. and said he had “killed them all.”
According to Platte County prosecutors, the three first-degree murder charges carry a minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, prosecutors could seek the death penalty.
The case is being investigated by the Kansas City Police Department.
Navarro is being held in a Platte County jail without bond.
