KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Johnson County, Kansas, to killing his mother and aunt in 2025.
Luke Howard pleaded guilty to two counts of intentional second-degree murder. He was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Howard shot and killed his 63-year-old mother, Valerie Howard, and 71-year-old aunt, Joyce Austin, in their Lenexa home.
He entered a Liberty, Missouri, Walgreens store on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, with blood on his clothes and told two pharmacists he needed to turn himself in, per a court document.
Store staff called Liberty police, and Howard told officers he killed his mother and aunt in Lenexa.
He claimed he killed his aunt because she had evicted him from the house, according to a court document.
Lenexa police located the bodies of the women early Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025, in the 15400 block of West 90th Street.
A relative of Austin told police she knew Howard had a rifle and a handgun in the home.
Just days before the double murder, police responded to the Lenexa home. Howard claimed his mother had grabbed his neck and pushed him, and she told police her son had been violent to her in 2021, per a court document.
The mother also said she and Austin frequently locked themselves in their rooms.
Howard is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 24.
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