KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Detectives used DNA evidence on a baseball hat left at the scene of a July 2024 homicide in Grandview to file charges against a suspect.
Around 8 a.m. on July 6, 2024, police in Grandview received a call about a shooting at a townhouse complex. Police and paramedics arrived and found the victim dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
As detectives processed the scene, they found a “Rick and Morty” baseball cap at the scene and discovered the victim’s backpack had been stolen.
Family members of the victim said the hat found on the scene did not belong to the victim, which raised the detective's suspicions that the hat might have belonged to the suspect.
Court records filed Wednesday revealed that detectives reviewed license plate reader data from a camera near the scene of the homicide and identified a Saab vehicle as potentially belonging to the suspect.
About a month after the homicide, detectives received DNA testing results from the hat belonging to Steffon Smith.
Police were able to obtain cell phone records of Smith, which revealed his cell phone was in the area at the time of the homicide. The Saab vehicle seen in the area after the homicide also belonged to Smith.
Detectives conducted several months of surveillance of Smith at his residence, eventually taking him into custody following a standoff on April 18, 2025.
Once in custody, detectives interviewed Smith, during which he denied killing anyone.
While Smith remained in custody, detectives listened in on a phone call Smith made from the jail, in which he told the person on the other end of the call “I don’t want to say too much on the phone if I’m not out I’m gonna be here, that’s just as honest as I can be, but I ain’t gonna lie to ya I don’t think I can do this s**t in here for the rest of my life.”
On Wednesday, the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Smith with one count of 2nd-degree murder and armed criminal action.
He is being held without bond pending his first court appearance.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
