On the evening of March 9, 2010, Hassan A. Abbas, a 32-year-old Sudanese man, was found bleeding on the floor of his Riverside, Missouri, apartment by his roommate. Emergency services were called, and Abbas was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds to his chest, face, and side. The investigation into his death quickly focused on a 19-year-old woman from Kansas City, Kansas, named Cavona Flenoy, whom Abbas had recently met.
Investigators
discovered that Flenoy had been with Abbas at his apartment on the night of the murder. Evidence at the scene, including spent. 40 caliber shell casings, pointed to a violent struggle. After shooting Abbas, Flenoy fled the scene, taking his car, wallet, and cell phone. She was located and apprehended three days later, still in possession of the stolen vehicle and wallet. The investigation also revealed that she had attempted to use his credit card and had purchased the gun used in the shooting just days before the incident, only a day after first meeting Abbas.
During questioning, Flenoy confessed to the shooting. She claimed that Abbas had attempted to sexually assault her and that she shot him in self-defense. However, prosecutors argued the murder was premeditated and driven by robbery. They pointed to her recent gun purchase and the theft of his belongings as evidence of her intent. During a break in her police interview, Flenoy wrote a note stating, 'I push him down like I was about to him. I got the gun. And I just pulled the trigger.'
Faced with a potential first-degree murder charge, Cavona Flenoy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed criminal action, stealing a motor vehicle, and stealing a credit card. Her defense attorney argued for a lighter sentence, citing Flenoy's troubled past, which included a history of sexual abuse that resulted in PTSD. In January 2011, a judge sentenced her to 25 years in prison for the murder, with concurrent sentences for the other charges. Flenoy later appealed her conviction, stating her legal counsel did not adequately explain that a guilty plea would negate her self-defense claim, but her appeals were denied.
