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Kansas City, Missouri — A Black convicted felon has been charged in the murder of a White senior citizen, in a case police say fits a growing pattern of violent assaults recently reported in the area.
36-year-old Johnny X. Holmes has been charged with 2nd-degree-murder and one count of armed criminal action in connection with the June 12 fatal stabbing of 62-year-old Jerry Lee Terry II. At the time of the incident, Holmes was also wanted on a bench warrant related to an outstanding 2024 assault case.
Adding to the concern, police say the nature of Terry’s attack mirrors a broader pattern of violent assaults in the area—each involving a deadly weapon, an ambush on an unsuspecting stranger, and a suspect with what appears to be a disabled leg.
According to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office and court records, police responded around 6:45 a.m. on June 12 to a reported “cutting” in the 3400 block of Broadway Blvd.
Officers were then directed to a nearby parking lot, where they discovered the body of Jerry Lee Terry II. He had reportedly been dead for some time, with stab wounds to the neck and chest.
In a probable cause affidavit, Kansas City Police Detective Janna Nelson noted that surveillance footage did not capture the actual assault but showed that Terry and Holmes crossed paths in a known camera blind spot—precisely where Terry was found dead and where Holmes was allegedly seen leaving the scene.
The affidavit further describes Holmes as having a distinctive limp—his right leg dragging and turned outward—a detail that aligns with witness accounts of the suspect seen fleeing the scene of Terry’s murder.
In a strikingly similar case just over a month earlier, a homeless man reported being stabbed in the neck while he slept. He told police his attacker also walked with a pronounced limp.
The man survived by fighting off his assailant and seeking immediate medical attention. This attack occurred roughly one mile from both Holmes’ apartment and the location where Terry’s body was later found.
Holmes was also involved in a July 2024 assault that took place mere blocks from these two locations. In that case, he allegedly struck a stranger from behind with a hammer in an unprovoked attack. The victim—someone with no known ties to Holmes—provided a description that led to his arrest.
Following that July 2024 incident, Holmes was granted release despite a prior assault conviction. His bond was set at $2,000 or a 10% bond. Court records indicate one of those was paid. When Holmes failed to appear in court, a bench warrant was issued. However, the bond on that warrant was set even lower—just $1,000 or 10% bond.
Although multiple witnesses reported seeing Holmes in the same neighborhood where police had previously arrested him, he remained at large for weeks. He was not taken into custody until four days after Terry’s murder—more than five weeks after the earlier stabbing.
Holmes was ultimately arrested at his apartment on 34th Street, less than a mile from each of the prior incidents. According to Detective Nelson, officers found the murder weapon—still bloody—inside his residence, along with clothing stained with Terry’s blood. Shockingly, police say Holmes had not even locked or closed his front door.
Holmes is now being held without bond at the Jackson County Detention Center. A bond review hearing is scheduled for June 26, with Judge Abbie Rothermich presiding.
According to prosecutors, the current charges of 2nd-degree-murder and armed criminal action come with prison terms of 10-30 years or life in prison, and 5-30 years respectively. If given a non-life term, convicts can be paroled after serving just 85% of their time. A preliminary hearing is set for July 16.
According to Jerry Lee Terry II’s obituary, Terry was a father, grandfather, brother, and friend. Terry’s life was marked by a good sense of humor and a love for dancing at any one of his five daughter’s weddings. In his professional life, Terryonce owned and operated a landscaping company in Austin, TX that “added immense beauty to the city.”
A memorial service will be held in Amarillo, Texas on June 28th, the same town where Terry grew up.
Kansas City, MO has a population of approximately 516,000, with White residents comprising 54.5% and Black residents accounting for 25.8%.
As in many major cities, Kansas City’s law enforcement records show notable gaps in how suspects are classified by race. A persistent issue with the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) is its frequent use of vague labels such as “Not Specified” or “Unknown” when recording a suspect’s racial identity.
From 2018 to 2023, the KCPD listed a suspect’s race as “Not Specified” or “Unknown” in 267 out of 1,190 homicide arrest records. In contrast, only 8 out of 974 homicide victims during the same period were recorded without a specified racial identity.
Critics argue that efforts to obscure violent crime committed by non-White individuals in Kansas City extend beyond the KCPD, implicating the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office as well. They highlight Prosecutor Melesa Johnson—who is Black—for framing her role as a mission to foster “a safer, more equitable Jackson County.”
Despite efforts to obscure the data, Black individuals still accounted for 60% of homicide suspects in Kansas City between 2018 and 2023—more than twice their representation in the population.
While most victims of Black crime are Black themselves, White people often find themselves caught in the crossfire.
Last Spring, a man was viciously stabbed in the neck at a McDonald’s in Washington, DC. For the crime, Police arrested 63-year-old Reginald Pickett, a Black convict who reportedly shouted that he “hated White people” before the attack.
According to reports, Pickett had a violent criminal history that spanned decades yet under American law, he remained free.
In 2023, a 63-year-old White healthcare professional was found dead inside a halfway house for sex offenders, where she was scheduled for her first work shift. For the crime, law enforcement arrested a Black registered sex offender and career criminal believed to be responsible for one of the worst murders police have investigated in the past 27 years. At this time, a trial is pending.
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