KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 22-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, man has been charged with murder and setting the victim’s vehicle on fire with the body inside in connection with a Dec. 4 homicide.
Keith Hernandez was charged earlier this month with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, knowingly burning or exploding, and tampering with physical evidence — all felony counts.
The Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office alleged in a release Monday that Hernandez shot 25-year-old Devonta Dunson as he sat in his truck near East 10th Street and Oakley Avenue.
The incident was caught on video camera, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Both men were inside the vehicle, which was located outside Hernandez’s residence, at the time of the first shot.
Hernandez allegedly went inside after shooting Dunson and told his girlfriend that Dunson “got what he deserved.”
According to KCPD investigators, Hernandez allegedly moved Dunson’s body to the back of the vehicle, drove the vehicle to a new location and set it on fire with Dunson’s body still inside.
The vehicle was so badly burned, its Vehicle Identification Number could not be recovered, according to KCPD.
Home security video shared with KCPD helped provide a photo of the suspect and investigators used it to track his movements to a nearby house, where KCPD says broken glass and blood were found on the curb outside Hernandez’s girlfriend’s residence.
Additional surveillance video appeared to show Hernandez and Dunson inside the vehicle that was later burned, according to KCPD.
KCFD responded to put out the vehicle fire in the early morning hours Dec. 4, but Dunson's body went undiscovered in the back of the vehicle for several hours before police were notified and a homicide investigation was launched.
After the killing, Hernandez fled to New Mexico and changed his phone number, according to records.
DNA evidence also links Hernandez and Dunson, whose blood was found in Hernandez’s vehicle that he abandoned in Kansas City before fleeing the state, according to police.
Hernandez recently was taken into custody and is back in KCMO, according to police. He is being held on a $250,000 cash-only bond.
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