On New Year's Day in 2016, 25-year-old Marc A. Bivins was found mortally wounded on the side of a road in the 10100 block of Raytown Road in Kansas City, Missouri. A 911 caller had discovered him with a life-threatening injury. Emergency services transported Bivins to a local hospital, where he was pronounced deceased later that evening. An autopsy determined his cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. At the scene, investigators found bloodied pharmacy packaging but no wallet, identification, or cell phone on the victim.
The investigation into the death of Marc Bivins, a resident of Lee's Summit, led police to a local CVS pharmacy where he had picked up a prescription for Alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax, on the day of his murder. Surveillance footage showed Bivins in the back seat of a white four-door vehicle at the drive-thru. The investigation revealed that Bivins had arranged to trade some of his Xanax for cocaine with Michael L. Woodard. It is alleged that Bivins was picked up by two men and driven to the pharmacy. An argument then reportedly broke out in the car over the amount of Xanax to be exchanged.
According to court documents, during the argument, Woodard, then 27, shot Bivins in the head. After the shooting, Bivins' body was allegedly dumped on the side of the road, and the perpetrators fled with the pills. The vehicle used in the crime was later burned. The day after the incident, Woodard sought medical treatment for severe burns to a large portion of his body, telling hospital staff he was injured when a car he was working on caught fire. In June 2018, Michael L. Woodard was charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and intent to distribute a controlled substance in connection with Bivins' death. His bail was set at $250,000.
