Court documents reveal new details on Lenexa double homicide; son of victim charged
Luke Howard is shown in a booking photo provided by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
By JoBeth Davis, Nick Sloan, Krista Tatschl and Chloe Godding
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LENEXA, Kansas (KMBC) — Court documents are providing new details on a double homicide this week in Johnson County, Kansas.
Officers were dispatched to a home in the 15400 block of West 90th Street around 5 a.m. to conduct a welfare check after receiving information that individuals inside may have been shot.
Police said they have been to the home two other times during the week on domestic disturbances calls.
When police arrived, they found two women inside the home, dead.
Police identified the victims Thursday as Joyce Austin, 71, and Valerie Howard, 63. The two are former sisters-in-law and lived together at the home.
Luke Howard, 34, was taken into custody after the shooting and has now been charged with two counts of first-degree murder by the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office.
Luke Howard is the son of Valerie Howard. According to an affidavit, Howard allegedly admitted to Liberty police that he fatally shot his aunt, Austin, after she evicted him and also killed his mother, Valerie Howard.
Court documents state that Howard walked into a Walgreens in Liberty, Missouri, on Wednesday covered in blood and told two employees there that he needed to turn himself in.
He told officers the firearm was in his vehicle at the scene.
Lenexa police then went to the home the three shared, where they found both women dead.
Valerie Howard was on the living room floor with gunshot wounds to her abdomen.
Officers attempted lifesaving measures but determined she had been dead for some time.
Joyce Austin was found cold and unresponsive on the couch, also with gunshot wounds.
Investigators found 10 to 12 shell casings in the living room.
Events leading up to Lenexa, Kansas, double homicide:
The affidavit says that on Feb. 10, Luke Howard said his mother grabbed him around his neck and pushed him. Valerie Howard told police that Luke came into her room, broke an ashtray and caused her to call.
She told police Luke had become violent toward them in 2021 and the two women were locking themselves in their rooms “as much as possible.”
The following day, Austin served Luke Howard with a 30-day eviction notice, which he reacted to angrily.
Luke Howard later called police, alleging a woman inside had pointed a gun at him before retracting the claim.
Howard was taken into custody following his confession.
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