In the early morning hours of February 7, 2021, a violent incident unfolded in a residential neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, claiming the life of forty-eight-year-old Charles Harris. Police officers were dispatched to a home located in the 4000 block of Wabash Avenue shortly after 4:00 a.m. following reports of a shooting. Upon their arrival at the scene, first responders discovered the male victim inside the residence suffering from fatal gunshot wounds.
Despite the emergency response, he was declared dead at the location, marking the city's thirteenth homicide of the year.
Detectives quickly launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Harris, a Black man known affectionately to friends and family as 'Big Chuck.' Authorities utilized surveillance footage and witness statements to piece together his final movements. The investigation revealed that Harris had spent the previous evening at a local pool hall in the company of a woman later identified as Marvina Stemmons. Witnesses reported seeing the pair leaving the establishment together around 3:00 a.m., with Stemmons accompanying Harris back to his residence.
Two days after the discovery of the body, police apprehended thirty-year-old Marvina Stemmons in connection with the crime. She was taken into custody at a residence on Bellefontaine Avenue. Prosecutors subsequently charged her with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. Court documents detailed that investigators found evidence linking her to the scene, including distinctive clothing seen in surveillance videos and digital communications between her and the victim. Stemmons initially claimed she had learned of the death through the news, but the accumulated evidence led to her arrest and formal charging in the slaying.
