For immediate release
April 27, 2016

The 24-year-old Kansas City man whose daughter shot herself in their residence last week now will face a murder charge, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.

Courtenay S. Block, dob: 3/13/1992, now faces Murder in the 2nd Degree or Felony Murder, a Class A felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison, Abuse of a Child, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Tampering with Physical Evidence and Possession of up to 35 grams of Marijuana.*

Last week, the day after his daughter apparently shot herself in the head, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges of Endangering the Welfare of a Child in the 1st Degree, Armed Criminal Action and Tampering With Physical Evidence. On Tuesday, prosecutors filed an amended complaint, adding the Felony Murder, Child Abuse and Possession charges.*

According to court records, Kansas City police officers arrived at the residence in the 2600 block of Lawn on Thursday (April 21) afternoon and found the defendant holding an unresponsive child. She had apparently been shot in the heard. The Medical Examiner examined the victim and determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound. Block told police he kept a loaded handgun in his residence. Block said he heard the victim crying and observed his handgun on the floor next to the victim. He picked up the gun and walked to the bathroom to conceal it. Then he walked outside with the victim and notified a neighbor, who called police. Officers found the handgun in a bathroom floor vent covered by a child's T-shirt. The victim was 2 years old, born in the summer of 2013.

Block is currently being held in the Jackson County Detention Center. Prosecutors have requested that Block’s bond be increased to $250,000.

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

*Charges are only accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until the defendant is either found guilty or has pleaded