Mantonia Duncan, center, appears inset against the street where his wife was shot and killed in Kansas City, Mo. on July 17, 2023. (Jackson County Detention Center; Google Maps)
A Missouri man, angry and upset with the way his life was going, shot and killed his wife in front of her son, authorities in Kansas City say.
Mantonia M. Duncan, 36, stands accused of murder in the second degree, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm over the July 17 death of Jami Duncan, 39, according to a warrant and probable cause statement obtained by Law&Crime.
The incident occurred just before 11:00 p.m. at a house on East 54th Street in the North Town Fork Creek neighborhood. Officers and paramedics responded to a 911 call and found the victim laying in a pool of blood in her kitchen – shot multiple times in her head and body.
The defendant, meanwhile, was “drunk and walking” around and talking with his brother on his iPhone, court documents say.
The search
Mantonia Duncan’s brother said he sent the mother of his teen daughter over to the Duncan home after a series of increasingly bizarre interactions with Duncan over the phone.
The defendant’s brother told police that Duncan “sent him a text message about not feeling right and something being weird” which resulted in a FaceTime call during which the alleged killer was “very frantic” and “rambling” about how he is tired of getting “f––––– over by everyone,” the probable cause statement says.
“He stated Duncan told him he was going home and they (Duncan and the victim) had been getting into it about the victim’s daughter, who recently moved in,” the document reads. “[The defendant’s brother] stated Duncan was upset that she was trying to run the house which caused issues between Duncan and the victim.”
Duncan’s brother told the mother of his child that Duncan “just went over and killed that girl” and that she “needs to go over to the house now,” according to the probable cause statement.
The defendant’s brother said he asked her to help look for Duncan and she went out in her car to aid in the search.
She went to the house, where she managed to gain entry and saw Jami Duncan’s body and dialed 911, she told police. Then, she got back on the phone with Duncan’s brother.
While the two were talking, she got a call from her daughter: Duncan had walked over to his brother’s house and was currently there. The girl also sent her dad a text: her uncle was at their house and “acting weird,” and scaring his 16-year-old niece, the document says.
The arrest
The defendant’s brother then told the mother of his child to call the police – which she did – while he got back on the phone with the suspect. During that time, the two brothers discussed the alleged killer’s issues again.
“During that conversation Duncan was still upset and continuing on that he ‘f––––– up,’ going to prison and for him [his brother] to take care of his daughter,” the statement goes on. “[The defendant’s brother] stated Duncan talked about the victim calling the police on him and that he and the victim had argued.”
Mantonia Duncan was taken into custody at his brother’s residence by KCPD officers without incident, court documents say. At the time of his arrest, “detectives noticed apparent blood on his left leg above his ankle, on his shorts, shirt, shoes, and on his right-hand finger,” the probable cause statement says.
The sister-in-law also told police that Jami Duncan’s son, the defendant’s stepson, was in the house when his mother was killed.
The murder
The next day, KCPD detectives interviewed Jami Duncan’s son.
In two versions of the story, his stepfather either barged into the kitchen by kicking the door down or his mother had opened the door to let the irate man in. But in either version, the outcome was the same, with the same chilling directive to the victim immediately before she died, the statement says.
Mantonia Duncan, while brandishing a gun, told his wife to “lineup” and then shot her at least three times, her son told police.
Investigators would find nine spent casings for a Springfield Hellcat 9mm handgun – a gun found laying next to Jami Duncan’s head.
During or immediately as the shots were being fired, the victim’s son said, he ran to his bedroom and hid in his closet.
“When asked [by detectives] if he knew what was meant by [the defendant] saying ‘lineup’ to his mom, [the victim’s son] stated he did not know what it meant,” the probable cause statement reads.
Jackson County Court records suggest the defendant is not currently represented by an attorney. He is currently being detained in the Jackson County Detention Center on $100,000 cash bail. Duncan is next slated to appear in court on July 31 for a bond hearing.
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