May 20, 2020

KC man charged with murder in hit-and-run that killed 2

Posted May 20, 2020 2:30 PM
Mertens- photo Clay Co. Sheriff
Mertens- photo Clay Co. Sheriff

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder after a hit-and-run crash that killed two people in February.

Michael P. Mertens, 28, was charged Monday in the deaths of Judith Morris and Virgil M. Dixon, who were in a vehicle that Mertens hit as he sped through a stop sign, Jackson County prosecutors said Monday.

He fled the scene after the vehicle crashed but was later taken into custody.

Mertens is also charged with leaving the scene of an accident, receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and driving while a license was revoked.

A witness told police she was following Mertens because he was driving an SUV that had been stolen from her mother when she saw him speed up and run the stop sign.

Online court records do not name an attorney for Mertens, who is being held in the Clay County jail in a separate case.