In the early morning hours of July 5, 2019, the life of 48-year-old Lynn Patrick Armstrong was tragically cut short in a south Kansas City apartment. Police were dispatched to a residence in the 9300 block of Myrtle Avenue around 4:45 a.m. after a woman called to report finding Armstrong unresponsive on her living room floor. Upon their arrival, officers administered first aid until paramedics pronounced him deceased at the scene.
While the initial cause of death was not immediately released, investigators suspected foul play was involved. It was later revealed that Armstrong had sustained a gunshot wound to his arm that corresponded with a wound in his upper chest.
The events leading up to Armstrong's death began with a domestic dispute. A man named Stevie D. Rambo, 54, and his girlfriend were returning from a party when an argument erupted over a missing gun. When they arrived at their apartment, the girlfriend, fearing Rambo's anger and past assaults, chose not to go inside with him. She instead engaged in a conversation with her neighbor, Lynn Armstrong, who was outside. This interaction reportedly angered Rambo, who then confronted Armstrong. In response, Armstrong fired a handgun into the air three times.
Following this confrontation, Rambo left the area, and Armstrong and the woman went to her apartment. The situation escalated when the woman was later awakened by Rambo entering her bedroom and striking her in the head with a handgun. She managed to escape by jumping out of a window and fleeing to a neighbor's apartment for help. When she eventually returned to her own apartment, she made the grim discovery of Armstrong's body. Investigators later found four spent shell casings in the bedroom of her apartment.
In a surprising turn, Stevie D. Rambo turned himself in to the police on the same day of the incident. He was initially held on a 24-hour investigative hold, during which time what appeared to be blood was found on his shoes. After being read his Miranda rights, Rambo requested an attorney. He was later released from custody after being arrested on unrelated municipal warrants. Subsequently, a warrant was issued for his arrest on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the killing of Lynn Armstrong.
