Murder charge filed against boyfriend in fatal Kansas City beating, prosecutors say

A Kansas City, Kansas man has been charged with murder in the fatal beating of his 35-year-old girlfriend, whose body was discovered inside her Kansas City apartment on Thursday.

Anthony D. Jones, 35, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Michelle Long, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday. Kansas City police say Jones surrendered to authorities Friday but later denied being involved in Long’s death, according to court records.

Long’s body was discovered around 10 a.m. Thursday when police officers were called to the 10600 block of East 98th Terrace in response to a welfare check. A tipster called that day and told police Long had possibly been murdered a few days prior, court records state.

When officers arrived, Long was found lying naked on a bedroom floor inside her apartment. Her face was bloodied, there were large bruises on her body and head, and clumps of her hair had been shaved off, according to court documents. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators found blood on the walls of the bedroom and inside a closet. They also found a bloody fingerprint investigators allege was later identified as Jones’.

A neighbor told investigators loud noises were heard coming from the apartment on Tuesday night that resembled things being thrown around inside. The neighbor told police loud noises are frequent inside the apartment, including music, according to court documents.

Investigators also discovered a car registered to Long was missing from the apartment complex. The car was seen leaving the area by surveillance cameras on Wednesday night, court documents state, and license-plate reading technology captured a record of the car being driven into Kansas later that night.

Detectives later found Long’s car near Jones’ mother’s residence, court documents state.

On Thursday night around 11 p.m., Jones allegedly called 911 seeking to surrender to authorities on “murder,” court documents state. He was taken into police custody near the intersection of East 3rd Street and Holmes Street near Kansas City’s River Market.

During an interview with detectives shortly after, Jones said he had ended his relationship with Long months earlier and denied being involved in her death. He also denied accusations of a documented domestic assault from two months earlier, according to court records.

Police processed Jones for evidence following the interview, court records state, and allegedly found blood on his boxer shorts.