KANSAS CITY (AP) — A jury has convicted a Kansas City man of first-degree murder for killing his neighbor in 2017, one day before what would have been her 25th birthday.
A Jackson County jury found Cedric Russell, 28, guilty of killing 24-year-old Ashley Geddes, whose body was found in her Kansas City apartment by her mother. Russell also was found guilty of tampering with evidence and tampering with a motor vehicle.
Police have said Russell told investigators that Geddes stopped breathing as he choked her during sex, and police investigated her killing as a sexual assault and homicide. Police said Russell took Geddes’ car, phone and jewelry, and that the missing jewelry was pawned shortly after her death.
Russell is scheduled to be sentenced June 3.