Police arrest suspect in case of Kansas woman fatally shot while driving home from church

Police in Kansas have arrested a woman they believe shot and killed a senior citizen who was on her way home after attending a church service.

On Sept. 18, 66-year-old Lillian Jackson was a half mile from Mount Zion Baptist Church in Kansas City when the vehicle she was driving got caught in the crossfire of two people involved in a gunfight, KCTV reported.

Multiple bullets struck Jackson’s car, killing her instantly, according to police.

Authorities offered a $25,000 reward for information related to the incident, and Kansas City Police Chief Karl Oakman said a tip eventually led them to the suspect, 29-year-old Melanie Perry.

Perry was already booked into the Wyandotte County jail on unrelated charges. She now faces multiple new charges that include first degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and criminal discharge of a firearm. She was being held on $250,000 bail, KMBC-TV reported.

“Everyone in America should have the right to go enjoy themselves and go home without the fear of being caught up in some reckless gunfire that shouldn’t be taking place to begin with,” Oakman said shortly after Jackson’s death. “There are two individuals that are in our community that will just open up fire on each other in broad daylight and do not care about who they hit or the consequences of their actions, and those are people we do not need walking among us in our community.”