KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A teenager pleaded not guilty on Monday to killing a developmentally disabled man in September near 41st and South Benton.
Landrain Miller, 17, was in Jackson County Court Monday for his arraignment on charges of 2nd Degree Murder and Armed Criminal Action.
Prosecutors say Miller told a witness he robbed a man and then shot him when the man fought back.
Timothy Riley, 38, was discovered shot to death in September. Police say he had just earned $40 in cash working as a maintenance man. Riley’s family said he had trouble reading and writing, but always managed to provide for himself.
“No one should die the way that he died. He should not have took his life. Not over $0. Not for any reason at all,” said Sherry Riley, Timothy’s sister.
Monday was the first time many of Riley’s family members saw the suspect. About 30 of Riley’s relatives were in court for the suspect’s first appearance.
“I miss Tim a whole lot. I’m glad I got to see him today. Because there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my son. You know what I’m saying. I have memories of Tim,” said Riley’s mother, Wilma Winters.
Riley was the grandson of Joyce Riley, who founded the 24th Street Non-Violent Marchers. The crime-fighting group started after the murder of another grandson nine years earlier.
“This is something that should not have happened. There’s too much of it,” she said.
Miller is being held on a $150,000 cash-only bond. He’s scheduled to be back in court January 31st at 9 a.m.
