In the early hours of a Friday morning in Kansas City, Missouri, the life of 25-year-old Ashley Danielle Roberts was tragically cut short. On March 9, 2018, police were called to a home on South Benton Avenue where they found Roberts's body on the porch. She had sustained a fatal gunshot wound under her right eye.
Neighbors reported hearing arguing from the residence she shared with her boyfriend, Dimitri Tinsley, and their two young daughters, who were 8 and 3 years old at the time.
Shortly after the argument, a neighbor saw Tinsley leaving the house with the children, shouting that Roberts had shot herself and asking for help before driving away.
Dimitri Tinsley, then 26 years old, was quickly taken into custody. During his interview with the police, he claimed that he and Roberts had been arguing because their oldest daughter had not gone to school that morning. He alleged that Roberts had his gun and threatened to call the police. According to Tinsley, the gun went off accidentally as he was trying to take it from her, remove the magazine, and pull back the slide.
However, the police investigation uncovered a different story. The couple's 3-year-old daughter told investigators that she saw her father with a gun and that he had choked her mother on the back of the neck with the weapon before a bullet went through her and she died. The investigation also revealed two prior domestic violence incidents between Tinsley and Roberts in 2013, with Tinsley identified as the primary aggressor in both.
Based on the evidence and the witness testimony, Dimitri Tinsley was charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, endangering the welfare of a child, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Prosecutors requested a $500,000 cash bond. The couple's two daughters were placed under protective care following the incident.
