Kansas City man charged in Monday shooting that left woman dead, man injured

A Kansas City man has been arrested and charged in the relation to a shooting earlier this week that left one woman dead and a man critically injured.

Paul E. Johnson, 56, has been charged with second-degree murder, second-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm in a shooting Monday that took the life of 34-year-old Annamarie Becchina, according to Jackson County court records.

Police responded about 10:45 p.m. Monday to reports of gunfire in the 300 block of Van Brunt Boulevard, Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department, said at the time.

Arriving officers found a man and a woman who had been shot near a home. The woman, Becchina, was pronounced dead, Foreman said. The man, who had been shot in the shoulder, was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Johnson, who is a felon, was taken into custody at the scene, court records show. When officers arrived, he was found attempting to perform life-saving measures on Becchina. He told officers were the gun was, and he said the shooting was an accident.

Witnesses at the scene told police that Johnson appeared to be in an argument with the other man and retrieved a shotgun from the garage.

Johnson told police he was “poking” the man with the gun when it went off “unexpectedly,” first injuring the man, then striking the woman.

Prosecutors requested Johnson’s bond be set at $250,000 cash.

The killing marked the 108th homicide this year in Kansas City, according to data maintained by The Star.