Man found guilty of murder in connection with 2023 murder of Ebony Duncan

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A jury in Jackson County Court found a Kansas City, Missouri, man guilty of second-degree murder and other charges in the death of Ebony Duncan.

On July 17, Charles Smith-Howell was found guilty of second-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution, according to court documents.

Smith-Howell, Duncan’s ex-boyfriend, was charged in July 2024 after Duncan’s blood was found in a car he was driving and cellphone records placed the two together on the day she disappeared in September 2023.

READ MORE | Ex-boyfriend charged in Ebony Duncan murder case after blood found in car is exact match

Duncan was last seen on surveillance video leaving her job at a nursing home in Independence on Sept. 6, 2023. She was seen talking on the phone with a number tied to Smith-Howell, and then getting into a car that matched the description of a car belonging to Smith-Howell’s girlfriend at the time, per court documents.

Independence Police Department

Duncan’s body was later found in October 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. An autopsy determined she had been shot.

Smith-Howell is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 5.

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