2 murder charges replace assault charges against man accused in 5 Kansas City deaths
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this file photo provided by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department is Brandon Howell, 34, who is charged with killing five people in a Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Kansas City Police Department) (The Associated Press)
A man suspected of killing five people in a south Kansas City neighborhood in September now faces five first-degree murder charges.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced in a news release Sunday that two assault charges against 34-year-old Brandon Howell have been upgraded to murder charges. The new charges pertain to the deaths of George and Anna Taylor in their home. The assault charges were filed before the Taylors died.
Howell now faces 12 felony counts in the deaths of the Taylors, Alice Hurst, her son, Darrel Hurst, and Susan Choucroun.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prosecutors allege Howell beat the Taylors on Sept. 2, then fatally shot the other three outside their homes before fleeing in the Taylors' SUV.
Howell was arrested hours later when police found him walking with a loaded shotgun.