KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City faces charges for allegedly striking a man to death and then setting the house on fire earlier this month in Kansas City’s northeast neighborhood.
Dianna A. Brown 46, faces 2nd Degree Murder, Armed Criminal Action, 2nd Degree Arson, and Tampering with Physical Evidence in a Felony Prosecution, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson.
According to court records, on September 19, the Kansas City Fire Department was dispatched to an apartment building near Kensington Avenue and Independence Avenue on a reported fire. After extinguishing the fire, which was contained to only one portion of the building, firefighters located a deceased male with severe burns, apparent head trauma, and signs of decomposition.
Detectives responded to the scene and found mail and prescription medication belonging to the defendant at the location.
The Medical Examiner determined the victim’s cause of death as blunt force trauma of the head and the manner of death as homicide.
On Sept. 27, the detctives interviewed the defendant. She said that on Sept. 14, she was with the victim at his apartment when an argument began. After the argument stopped and the victim went to sleep, Brown told detectives she used a nearby hammer to strike the victim multiple times. She said she continued to live in the apartment until setting it on fire.
The defendant is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond.