INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) - A suburban Kansas City man has been convicted of killing a woman who was a key witness against him in another homicide case.
The Kansas City Star reports that 28-year-old Michael Dumas, of Pleasant Hill, was found guilty Friday of second-degree murder, third-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action. He was free on bond when 46-year-old Sarah Simms was killed in November 2018 at her Independence home. Simms was a witness against Dumas in the 2017 fatal shooting of Phillip Anderson during a highway gun battle.
Dumas' attorney said previously that the state had other witnesses and that he didn't think Simms was killed to get rid of a witness. Charges are pending in Anderson's killing, and Dumas is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 17 in Simms' death.