KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Shanetta Bossell, the 39-year-old woman facing first-degree murder charges in the death of Kansas City, Missouri, firefighter paramedic Graham Hoffman, appeared in Clay County Circuit Court Monday.
KSHB 41 News reporter Abby Dodge was among those in the courtroom for the hearing, which was set as a bond reduction hearing.
Bossell was appointed a public defender, though that attorney was unable to attend Monday’s hearing due to a scheduling conflict. During Monday’s hearing, Bossell asked Clay County Circuit Court Judge Louis Angles for a work release and to allow her public defender to talk to her family about the case.
Pettis County EMT Megan Hall traveled to Liberty Monday afternoon to show her support for the Hoffman family. She said Bossell's request for a work release was insensitive toward the family.
“I don’t feel like she deserves to be able to ask for such a thing after what she’s done," Hall said. “I think that’s too much to be asking for right now.”
The judge did not rule on Bossell’s requests; she remains in custody on a $1 million bond.
Last week, prosecutors requested Bossell undergo communicable disease testing. Judge Angles allowed that testing to continue.
In addition to the first-degree murder charge, Bossell is accused of felony assault by biting a police officer who attempted to take her into custody after Hoffman was fatally stabbed.
Several days earlier, Bossell was charged with biting an off-duty Platte City police officer who had returned home from a shift.
In addition to Hall, a handful of other Hoffman supporters turned out for Monday’s hearing to show their support for his family, including Monique Guerrero.
"The family deserves to have people here, knowing that people are going to show up for him, that they are going to be here for him and that they are not alone in this," Guerrero said. "They do not have to walk this road alone.”
The community paid its respects to Hoffman during a public visitation, funeral and procession on Friday.
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