INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Brice Stewart knows the family of Diana Ault, who was shot and killed in late January 1994 at her Independence home after returning home with her small children from a Super Bowl party.
Stewart, an Independence City Council member, lives across the street from Ault’s in-laws and knows her daughter, so he is familiar with the details of one of the most infamous cold-case homicides in the city’s history.
After Ault’s father, Bill Laskey, reached out to Stewart about her case, he came up with a unique idea.
“He wanted to know if there was anything that I could do as a city council member,” Stewart said. “I kind of thought to myself for a little bit and was like, ‘Well, how better to use the marijuana sales tax than to maybe bring some attention to these cases?’”
Spurred by Stewart’s resolution, the Independence City Council unanimously voted April 21 to allocate $100,000 toward cracking five cold-case homicides, including Ault’s unsolved murder.
Four other cold-case homicides — the October 2005 stabbing of Lakota Renville, the November 2008 shooting of Jevon Basler, the September 2020 shooting of Aerrion Burnett and the May 2021 shooting of Kentral Gray — were chosen for the Cold Case Reward Program after consultation with the Independence Police Department.
“I just, I felt like it was time, you know?” Stewart said. “For all of these cases, these people have been waiting a long time, and I just think it's time we try to do something a little different.”
Money from the city’s marijuana sales-tax revenue — which, by law, must be used for public safety — will be used to increase the reward for tips in the five selected cases by $10,000. The other half of the money will be available for forensic and investigative needs.
“Those five particular cases were picked because there is still staff here at IPD that has intimate knowledge of all five of those investigations,” IPD Ofc. Bryan Conley, the department's public information officer, said. “Those five we feel like have the highest probability of being solved if a tip were to come in.”
Conley hopes renewed attention surrounding the unsolved homicides and the increased reward money will generate new leads for investigators.
“No matter how minute or small of a tip an individual might have regarding any of these five cases — if you think it's irrelevant, it doesn't matter,” Conley said. “Go ahead and call it in. All it takes is the smallest tip to crack one of these cases wide open and get it solved.”
That’s the end goal of the initiative.
“I want these families to know that, as a city, we do care about their cases,” Stewart said. “They have not been forgotten, and we're still doing everything we can to get them solved.”
IPD praised the City Council for thinking outside the box.
“This was City Council's idea,” Conley said. “They brought it to us. We were more than happy to jump on board. But having a city council that's proactive and wants to take these steps and really get after it and get these cases solved, that's huge. I don't think you're going to see that in too many other cities in the metropolitan area.”
Now, they need help from the public to bring justice for the victims and peace of mind to the victims’ families.
“Somebody's going to have to come forward — and if it takes money to do that, then I think there shouldn’t be any problem with that,” Stewart said. “... We don't have a huge pile of money, but, if this is successful, I would have no problem trying to expand it.”
To reach Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers, which offers up to $25,000 for tips that lead to an arrest, with an anonymous tip, call 816-474-TIPS (8477), visit KCCrimeStoppers.com or use the free P3Tips.com mobile app.
Stewart hopes someone will provide the information needed after years without closure.
“It would be incredible,” he said. “I would absolutely love it. Just, it'd be awesome.”
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KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
