On the night of August 16, 2020, a domestic dispute in an Independence, Missouri, home ended with the death of 44-year-old Kimah McDonald. Officers responding to a call about a verbal disturbance heard a single gunshot as they approached a South Arlington Avenue residence. Larnell McDonald called 911 and, when officers detained him after he exited the home, said a gun inside had accidentally discharged. Inside a bedroom, officers found Kimah with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

The couple were reportedly separating at the time. Larnell, then 63, told police the pair had been arguing, that he had pointed a 9mm handgun at her in the heat of the moment, and that the weapon had “just went off,” later saying he shouldn’t have done it. He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action; a Jackson County jury later convicted him of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action, and he received a combined 30-year sentence.

Did anyone in the area know the McDonalds or have information about that night that wasn’t made public?