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Body of Cedar Rapids man found shot in Missouri
Two Missouri residents charged with first-degree murder
Dec. 15, 2023 6:49 pm, Updated: Dec. 15, 2023 8:00 pm
A Cedar Rapids man reported missing in November was found Thursday dead of gunshot wounds, with his hands bound behind his back, in a rural area in Shannon County in far southeast Missouri.
The Johnson County (Iowa) Sheriff’s Office and Missouri authorities, in separate statements, said Friday that the body of Shawn William Michael Kiger, 31, was found in a rural location off State Highway E.
Two Missouri residents — Kyle Sebree, 32, and Heather McClendon, 41 — have been charged in connection with his slaying.
Kiger was reported missing in November to the Winona Police Department in Missouri and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in Iowa.
Kiger’s girlfriend reported him missing and said his last known location was in Winona, Mo., on Nov. 21, according to a probable cause statement filed by a Shannon County prosecutor on Thursday. Winona is in Shannon County.
Trip to Missouri
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said deputies found an abandoned 2021 Dodge pickup truck, owned by Kiger, near a small wooded area in the 1400 block of Highway 6 NW in rural Johnson County.
According to the probable cause statement, investigators learned Kiger had traveled to Missouri with Tyrelle Deshunt Harris Sr., 29.
On Dec. 5, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office investigators interviewed Harris, who said he had met Kiger through mutual friends. Harris said Kiger was trying to buy a gun for his wife for protection.
Harris said he knew a friend, Kyle Sebree, who had posted photos of guns for sale on his Snapchat, according to the court document. Harris told Kiger he could buy a gun from Sebree, who lived in Missouri.
Kiger and Harris then went to Winona, Mo., early Nov. 21, to meet Sebree at his residence. Another man, identified as “Alex,” also was there.
Harris said Sebree drove Kiger’s truck around to various locations during their stay, with Kiger and Harris as passengers.
Harris told authorities Sebree drove the truck to an unidentified woman’s residence in addition to another to purchase drugs, according to the court document. Harris said Kiger and Sebree smoked methamphetamine that day.
On the evening of Nov. 21, Harris said Sebree and Alex took him and Kiger driving to a nearby wooded area. At one point, Sebree got out of the truck, opened the tailgate and yelled at someone. Harris said he realized it was Kiger in the truck bed.
They drove around for a while and then stopped in the woods. Harris said Sebree and Alex got out of the truck and told Harris to stay inside, as they moved Kiger out of the truck bed. When they all walked around to the front of the truck, Harris saw a rope around Kiger’s waist and he thought Kiger’s hand might also be “restricted” in some way.
Harris told authorities he saw Sebree shoot Kiger in the back of the head, according to court documents. Kiger went down on the ground, and Sebree and Alex got back in the truck, leaving Kiger’s body in the woods.
Harris said he left Missouri in Kiger’s truck the next morning and returned to Iowa.
Search warrants
Johnson County investigators — in coordination with the Troop G Criminal Investigative Unit of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control, Winona Police Department and Shannon County Sheriff’s Office — found Kiger’s body Thursday near a logging road near Highway E.
Kiger was wearing a white T-shirt, khaki pants and red tennis shoes. His hands were bound behind his back with yellow nylon rope and a sock was stuffed in his mouth and secured with black tape.
Investigators obtained search warrants Thursday and went to Sebree’s residence, where his girlfriend and their infant son lived in Winona.
During the search, officers found yellow nylon rope in the backyard and inside the house and a box for a .22-caliber Citadel rifle though the rifle was missing. Several .22-caliber bullets were found at the residence.
The second search warrant was for the residence of Heather McClendon in Winona.
During interviews, McClendon told authorities Kiger, Harris and Sebree were at her residence Nov. 21, but she hadn’t seen Harris or Kiger since that day, according to court documents.
McClendon said she had purchased a .22-caliber rifle at a local gun store for Sebree because he was felon and was prohibited from having a weapon.
McClendon later admitted to investigators that Sebree told her he had killed Kiger.
Sebree told her he had removed a handgun from her purse and used it to kill Kiger. She said Sebree returned the handgun but she no longer had it because she went to Blytheville, Ark., and sold it for $100 to “David,” whose last name she didn’t know.
McClendon said the handgun was a silver Hi-Point .22-caliber pistol.
She said Sebree told her about tying up Kiger and putting something in his mouth, so his screams couldn’t be heard and placing him in the truck bed when he drove to a location where he fatally shot him.
Sebree also told her he slammed on the truck’s brakes several times, causing Kiger’s body to “bounce back and forth” inside the truck bed. Sebree also said he stopped the truck and struck Kiger while Kiger was bound.
Arrests
On Thursday, investigators arrested Sebree and McClendon, and they were formally charged Friday.
Sebree was charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. McClendon was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence.
Sebree is being held in the Shannon County Jail and McClendon is being held in the Texas County Jail, both without bond.
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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