Killa City: Man stabbed to death in Independence
A 48-year-old Kansas City man was stabbed to death Saturday near 23rd Street and Interstate 435. Crime Scene KC says the victim was apparently stabbed in a street fight near the 400 block of East Elm.
The victim died at the hospital from his wounds.
Investigators were seeking 19-year-old Anthony D. Gillen and 18-year-old Christopher M. Vasquez as persons of interest.
Update (3:43 p.m., Monday, March 23): Jackson County prosecutors charged Christopher M. Vasquez today with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. They also charged Anthony D. Gillen with felony theft.
Court records allege that Vasquez stabbed Jon C. Welch once early Saturday morning. Welch drove away from the scene, 325 E. Elm Street, in Independence.
Court records say Welch confronted Vasquez and Anthony D. Gillen, who allegedly stole CDs, an iPod and two laptop computers from his mother, Corenna M. Gray, and Welch. Gray told police that her son called her after the stabbing and said, “How’d the son of a bitch like getting stabbed?”
Gillen told police that he was fighting Welch when Vasquez stabbed Welch with a switchblade. Detectives later interviewed Vasquez who admitted stabbing Welch but said he didn’t want to kill him. Vasquez also led police to the location of the knife, which he had hidden at 3901 E. 58th St.
