On the morning of July 17, 2016, police in Kansas City, Missouri, were called to the 7600 block of East 79th Street after a gruesome discovery was made along the roadside. There, officers found the lifeless body of 34-year-old James Larry Hines Jr., a male resident of the area. He had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Investigators noted a peculiar and disturbing detail at the crime scene: while the victim’s cellphone was discovered lying next to his body, his pants were
missing.
Detectives soon zeroed in on a suspect named Antonio Maurice Miles, a 41-year-old man who had allegedly been seen with Hines shortly before the murder. Witness testimony played a crucial role in piecing together the events of that day. According to court records, Miles arrived at a witness’s home later that day appearing intoxicated and smelling of chemicals. He reportedly confessed to the witness, stating that he 'had to kill him' and referring to Hines as 'Erica's Dude,' suggesting a motive linked to an association with Miles's sister. Miles described picking Hines up in a vehicle and driving to the location on 79th Street under the guise of stopping to smoke, at which point he shot him.
Further investigation corroborated the witness accounts with physical evidence. Miles reportedly told an acquaintance that he had disposed of the victim's stolen pants at a car wash on Troost Avenue. Additionally, he sought to destroy his own clothing to conceal forensic links to the crime. Police were directed to a dumpster behind a business in Liberty, Missouri, where they recovered a trash bag containing the clothes and blue tennis shoes Miles had been wearing. DNA testing subsequently confirmed the presence of Hines's blood on the discarded clothing and Miles's DNA on the shirt.
Antonio Miles was arrested and originally charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. During the legal proceedings in July 2018, a Jackson County jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, as well as armed criminal action. Following the conviction, a judge sentenced Miles to twenty-five years in prison for the manslaughter charge and five years for the armed criminal action, with the orders set to run concurrently.
