For Immediate Release
Nov. 15, 2021
A Jackson County jury convicted a Kansas City man, 56, in the Jan. 4, 2018, fatal shooting of Thomas J. Rice III, who was the first homicide victim of 2018 in Kansas City, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.
The jury convicted Aasim I. Karim, dob: 8/30/1965, of Murder 1st Degree and Armed Criminal Action charges.*
A Jackson County judge will pronounce sentence at a Jan. 13, 2022, at 11 am.
According to court records, the victim was found outside the driver's door of his vehicle on the roadway near U.S. 40 Highway and Manchester Avenue in Kansas City. He had been shot and a spent shell was found nearby. The defendant had recently threatened to shoot the victim, according to the witness. Video surveillance of the crime scene showed the victim's vehicle followed soon after by a vehicle that looked like the vehicle known to be driven by the defendant. A search of the defendant's residence found shell casings at the residence that came from the same firearm used at the crime scene.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Kristiane Bryant and Broc Exposito prosecuted the case on behalf of the state of Missouri.
For more information, contact:
Michael Mansur
Director of Communication
Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office
Jean Peters Baker, Prosecutor
Work : (816) 881-3812
Mobile : (816) 674-3954
www.jacksoncounyprosecutor.com
mmansur@jacksongov.org
*Charges are only accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until the defendant is either found guilty or has pleaded.