KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A reward of up to $25,000 is available for information that leads to the arrest of a man charged in connection with the murders of two teenagers in December 2024 at a Kansas City, Missouri, apartment complex.
Terrell M. Simpson is charged in Jackson County Court with two counts of accessory to murder and two counts of armed criminal action.
Police found Deontae Marchbanks, 19, and Cierra Pennington, 17, shot about 3:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Charter Landing Apartment Complex in the 6000 block of Blue Hills Road.
Marchbanks was found dead in the driver's seat of a Nissan Sentra and Pennington was found gravely wounded just outside the car. She died a short time later at a hospital, according to a court document.
Video surveillance at the apartment complex revealed that the suspect vehicle, a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu, drove into the parking lot and moments later, backed into a parking spot two spaces down from the victim's vehicle.
A court document states Linda Ater opened fire with a handgun with an extended magazine until the gun malfunctioned.
Ater got back into the Chevrolet Malibu and Simpson fired a small rifle he pulled from the front of his pants.
Pennington jumped out of the Nissan, but fell to the ground where she was shot and gravely wounded.
Ater, identified by SAVE KC as high-risk for violence, was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon.
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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.
