3 found in Northland home were family members who died in apparent murder-suicide: Police
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Three people who were found dead in a home in Kansas City’s Northland Monday were family members who died by fatal gunshot wounds in an apparent murder-suicide, police said Tuesday.
The deaths of a mother and son, identified as 38-year-old Domonique A. McGeachy and 12-year-old Jerel D. McGeachy Jr., were being investigated as homicides, said Sgt. Phil DiMartino, with the Kansas City Police Department, in an email Tuesday morning.
The third person person found dead in the home, identified as 38-year-old Jerel D. McGeachy, died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
DiMartino said at this point investigators are not searching for anyone else in connection with the incident.
“It is important to again note that this information is preliminary and investigators are still compiling evidence,” he said.
Police said Monday the three family members were found with “bodily trauma” inside a home in the 8300 block of NW 90th Street after a family member called 911 with a report that the boy and woman had not arrived at school and work. Officers entered the family’s home and found the three bodies inside.
The son, 12-year-old Jerel D. McGeachy Jr., had been the topic of headlines in recent years for his public readings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speeches, gathering accolades as the “little boy with a big voice” for his dramatic delivery as well as his community service efforts, including participating in walks to raise money to battle breast cancer.
The Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina reported in November 2020 that the boy, then 9, had drawn attention for his recitation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, and had been honored as “Knight of the Year” by local and regional chapters of the Knights of Pythagoras, a service and leadership group.
The newspaper quoted Domonique McGeachy describing her son as “an old soul.”
“He has me listening to the Beatles now,” she said then to the paper. “Before that, it was B.B. King.”
In January this year, the boy again recited the King speech at an event in Wichita, where he “commanded the room” as he delivered a performance of King’s final speech from 1968, according to a news story from the Wichita TV station KAKE.
