For Immediate Release

Oct. 14, 2024

A homeless man faces felony charges after he entered a south Kansas City church, sought assistance and stabbed a church member in the chest on Sunday morning, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced this afternoon.

Jarod A. Hill faces Assault in the 1st Degree and Armed Criminal Action charges.*

According to court records filed this afternoon, close to 11 a.m. Sunday, Kansas City Police Department officers were dispatched to a reported cutting at the church. Officers located a victim suffering from a stab wound to his chest. They also found several members of the church on top of the suspect, the defendant Jarod Hill. He was taken into custody. While being placed into a transport wagon, he attempted to grab a police officer's gun. Witnesses told police that it appeared that the defendant had pitched a tent nearby and was upset that someone had spray painted the tent. The victim attempted to help the defendant. Other members of the church told the defendant to leave or they would call police. The victim was standing next to the defendant when he put the victim into a headlock and pulled out a knife. The defendant began to stab the victim in the chest. They struggled over the knife and other church members helped to restrain the defendant until police arrived. 

Video from the church corroborated the accounts of the victim and witnesses, according to court documents.

The police are continuing to investigate the incident at First Church of the Nazarene, located at 118th and State Line Road. The defendant is being held on a $100,000 cash bond.

For more information, contact:

Michael Mansur 

Director of Communication 

Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office 

Jean Peters Baker, Prosecutor 

(816) 881-3812 

(816) 674-3954 

mmansur@jacksongov.org 

https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com

*Charges are only accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until the defendant is either found guilty or pleads guilty.