For Immediate Release
Jan. 17, 2020
A Jackson County judge on Friday sentenced a Pleasant Hill, MO, man to 34 years in a Missouri prison for fatally shooting a woman and injuring another while the defendant was out on bond, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.
In November, a Jackson County jury convicted Michael T. Dumas, 2/21/1991, of Murder 2nd Degree, Assault 3rd Degree and two counts of Armed Criminal Action. The jury recommended up to 34 years in prison.
A Jackson County judge sentenced Dumas today to 20 years on the Murder 2nd Degree conviction, 8 years on the Armed Criminal Action conviction related to the murder, 3 years on the Assault 3rd Degree conviction and 3 years on the Armed Criminal Action conviction related to the assault. The judge set the sentences to run consecutively for a total of 34 years in prison.
According to court records, Independence police responded on Nov. 18, 2018, to a residence in the 3800 block of S. Sterling Avenue on a reported double shooting. They found both victims in the residence. Witnesses told police that the suspect, later identified as Michael T. Dumas, had recently been with the homicide victim, Sarah Simms. The witness told police the suspect was also a suspect in a 2017 murder but was out of jail on bond. Simms, the victim in the Nov. 18, 2018 homicide, had also been a witness in the 2017 murder. A witness described how the suspect shot the victim with a shotgun inside the home in the 3800 block of Sterling; he also wounded a second victim. Police found shotgun shells at the scene. The suspect’s vehicle was parked outside and shells similar to the one found at the homicide scene were found near the vehicle.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Traci Stansell, Jeremy Baldwin and JoEllen Engelbart 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
mmansur@jacksongov.org
http://jacksoncountyprosecutor.com
*Charges are only accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until the defendant is either found guilty or has pleaded.