A Missouri man who shot and killed a pregnant woman and her unborn child will serve decades in prison.
In connection with the deaths of 22-year-old Shayla Curts and her unborn child, Emmett C. Williams, 35, was given a 40-year jail sentence on Tuesday. In June, he entered a guilty plea to charges of armed criminal conduct and murder.
The murder took place on December 6, 2022, at approximately 8 p.m.
According to the complaint, police were called to a reported shooting near the 4900 block of Bellefontaine Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri.
Officers discovered Curts dead on a couch there, his head shot. On the floor close by, officers discovered a 9 mm Luger expended shell casing.
Police were informed by a witness Williams arrived at his house to spend time in his bedroom upstairs. According to the lawsuit, Curts, that witness, and another witness were also in that bedroom with Williams. Curts went downstairs to the living room, and “about five minutes later, Williams told [the witness] he was leaving,” the witness told police.
The witness allegedly informed investigators that he heard one gunshot approximately one minute later.
“[The witness] came downstairs saw the victim deceased and his front door standing open,” the complaint said. The witness reportedly looked outside and “saw somebody running northbound,” according to the complaint.
The brutality could not be explained by the witness.
The next morning, around 4:15, Williams called 911 to report that he had shot someone and wanted to surrender himself in.
He admitted to detectives at a police station that he had known the victim for four years and that they had occasionally crossed paths.
According to the lawsuit, he said she was “always antagonizing,” calling him a “b—-,” and referring to his genitalia with a feminine epithet.
According to court filings, Williams stated that although he was not usually impacted by her remarks, he had just lost several family members and had not been “managing those emotions well.”
“Williams believed that this, accompanied with his own mental health issues and illegal drug use caused him to ‘snap,'” according to the document.
According to Williams’ account of the shooting, she was seated on the living room couch when he entered the room.
According to the complaint, he told investigators that he shot her in the head as he was passing her, took his gun out of the holster on his hip, and then left through the front door and headed down the street.
Williams claimed that he lost his smartphone, bag, and rifle after falling into a ravine when he reached a forested area. He later brought detectives there, and following a search, authorities discovered the pistol and other evidence.
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Two girls were left behind by Curts. According to her obituary, she had named her newborn child Soleil.
