Truck, Woman Found That Fled Cass Co. Homicide Scene

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Truck, Woman Found That Fled Cass Co. Homicide Scene

POSTED: 7:10 am CST November 2, 2009
UPDATED: 12:12 pm CST November 2, 2009

CASS COUNTY, Mo. -- A 35-year-old man was shot in front of a Cass County, Mo., house Sunday afternoon and later died at an area hospital.

Police had been looking for a woman in a white Ford F-250 and have located both Monday morning. The truck was found abandoned at E. 215th Street, east of 291 Highway, north of Harrisonville.

The woman was located and police said they are questioning her, but she has not been charged.

Neighbor Cody said he was enjoying the afternoon outside in his grandma's yard on Lyne Road in Cass County when he witnessed most of the shooting.

"A car, vehicle went down the road and then shotgun, pow!" Cody said.

"And this dude, I seen him fall to the ground. He was like 'Ah! Help!'"

Cody's grandmother, Kay Weatherman, is a neighbor of the victim and said she recognized the sound she heard.

"I was raised in the Ozarks, around hunters, so I knew what a shotgun sounded like," Weatherman said. "So I immediately ran outside. I told the boys to get in the house."

The gunshot Weatherman heard killed 35-year-old Steven Lawrence. Neighbors and emergency crews tried to keep Lawrence alive, but he died at Research Belton Hospital after 2 p.m. Sunday.

"He was laying on the ground and they were trying to hold rags and stuff on him," Weatherman said. "Basically he was just trying to catch his breath and they were trying to get him to hold on."

Weatherman said she has lived in her house for 30 years and had never seen anything like what happened Sunday.

"I don't feel safe after today," Weatherman said.

Sheriff's deputies confirmed there was a disturbance reported at the same house Lawrence was shot in front of earlier Sunday. Sheriff's officials could not confirm whether the two incidents were related.

http://www.kctv5.com/news/21494690/detail.html