Alleged shooter in KC homicide stalked ex-girlfriend, killed her friend: authorities

A 39-year old man is accused of fatally shooting a family friend of his ex-girlfriend on a Kansas City street early Monday morning after witnesses say he had been stalking and threatening his former partner for weeks.

Verne E. Moore, of Kansas City, is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with second-degree murder, unlawful weapon use and armed criminal action stemming from the killing of Salvador Lopez, 56. He was taken into police custody Wednesday and ordered to be held in Jackson County jail without bond, court records show.

The shooting unfolded around 2 a.m. Monday in the 2500 block of Elmwood Ave. Kansas City police were dispatched to the location where they found Lopez in the street with multiple gunshot wounds and several shell casings near his body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Homicide detectives met with residents of a house on the block, near where the body was discovered, who knew Moore and Lopez. During a police interview, witnesses identified one of the residents as Moore’s ex-girlfriend and said that Moore had been living in the house until a few weeks prior.

Witnesses said Lopez arrived at the house around 9:15 p.m. that night as Moore sat in a parked SUV outside the residence. As two residents left the house in Lopez’s truck, the ex-girlfriend told police she received a threatening text message from Moore.

“I bet you I kill him when he come back,” said the text message, which was shown to detectives.

After returning, witnesses alleged Moore was still outside on the block and pointed a black handgun with a red-lasered sight at Lopez. They all went in the house and after Lopez left, the ex-girlfriend reported hearing the two men arguing outside followed by the sound of gunfire.

Other residents of the home described an escalating level of violence and stalking behavior exhibited by Moore in the time leading up to the shooting, including walking on her street in the twilight hours when she would arrive home from work. They also told police Moore was forced to move out after he pointed a gun at her.

When Moore was taken into police custody on Monday, authorities allege he had a cellphone in his possession that was registered with the same number used to send threatening text messages. They tested that by having a detective call the phone number while the phone was in police custody.

In addition to the charges stemming from the shooting, Moore also faces a felony count of first-degree harassment alleging he stalked his ex-girlfriend at her home.

An attorney for Moore was not listed in court records as of Thursday afternoon.