(Photo credit: Shawnee PD, Facebook)
The killing of a black woman by a white man in Shawnee, Kansas is being investigated by the FBI as a possible hate crime.
The Black woman, MeShon Cooper, 43, of Kansas City, was found dead July 14 inside of Ronald Lee Kidwell’s home.
Kidwell is a 47-year-old white man and has been charged in Johnson County District Court with second-degree murder in Cooper’s death.
Family members and a neighbor spoke to the Kansas City Star and described Kidwell as a racist white supremacist who had assaulted Black people in the past.
His daughter, Crystal Foster, told Kansas City Star that Kidwell would drape himself in the Confederate flag, and send her photos of the swastika tattoo on his left arm. He bragged to her about his membership in the Ku Klux Klan and told Brown about the Aryan Nations white supremacist group.
He also threatened to kill Crystal and her three children “if I ever spoke to a person of color,” she said.
According to the Kansas City Star Kidwell has spent a total of 15 years in prison for various assault charges.
The FBI said it is cooperating in the investigation with local law enforcement agencies.
Unlike federal law, Kansas does not have a specific hate crime law.
The Star says that according to documents released Monday, Kidwell allegedly told police he killed Cooper because she threatened to tell people he was HIV-positive. He also allegedly said that the murder was not premeditated. He told detectives that he punched Cooper multiple times and stabbed her in the neck with a knife that he wrestled away from her.
Ronald Lee Kidwell is being held in the Johnson County Jail. His bond is set at $1 million, reports the Kansas City Star .
Below is a statement from Kidwell’s estranged daughter, Crystal Foster.
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