Kansas City man faces murder charges in Raytown quadruple homicide

Jackson County prosecutors charged a 24-year-old Kansas City man with murder today in four March homicides that shocked Raytown and the entire community.
Under an indictment returned about 9:30 a.m., Gevante D. Anderson was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of burglary and five counts of armed criminal action.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jim Kanatzar said that Anderson, if convicted on all counts, would automatically be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. However, no decision has been made on whether to seek the death penalty, he added.

“This is a case that warrants my strong consideration of the death penalty,” Kanatzar said.

Authorities arrested Anderson at his home Friday, without incident. He has not yet had a court appearance.

Kanatzar said a judge has already granted his motion that Anderson be held without bond.

Andre Jones Sr., 33, Precious Triplett, 21, and two young nephews, Amir Clemons, 10, and Gerard Clemons Jr., 7, were found dead on March 16 in Triplett’s Raytown apartment near 61st Street and Raytown Road.

Triplett’s 1-year-old son also was inside, unharmed.

A family member said at the time that the 1-year-old had blood on him and apparently had been walking around the corpses for hours.

Information about the murders has been tightly held by investigators in the months since the bodies were discovered. However, the indictment revealed that all the victims were shot to death, except Gerard Clemons, who died by stabbing.

Kanatzar said the investigation had been thorough, and hinted that some of the delay in bringing charges may have come from the need to get more extensive scientific tests performed.

“I want to thank the Raytown police and the metro squad for all their hard work on this case, and I know they utilized every investigative technique at their disposal, including forensic science,” Kanatzar said.

He declined to discus motive in the case, other than to note: “We believe the defendant may have had a past relationship with Precious Triplett.”