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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A suspected serial killer is now facing charges in another Kansas City-area homicide.

Perez Reed, who is from St. Louis, has been charged in the November 2021 deadly shooting of Stephon Johnson, who was found dead in a Midtown Kansas City apartment, prosecutors say.

The 26-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and two counts of fraudulent use of a credit/debit device.

Court records say Johnson’s family filed missing person reports saying they hadn’t spoken to him since Nov. 1, 2021. When officers went to his apartment at Brush Creek Towers, they found Johnson’s body inside a closet, court documents say. Officials determined he had suffered a gunshot to the back of the head.

Officers also collected an empty cigarillo package, court records say, and a DNA test from that package later traced back to Reed’s DNA.

Reed was arrested on Nov. 8, 2021, by an FBI task force in Independence for warrants out of St. Louis County. Officials found a key in Reed’s possession at that time, and prosecutors say it fit a deadbolt lock on Johnson’s apartment.

Witnesses also told police the “serial killer” from St. Louis they saw on the news was the same man with a crescent tattoo who had been a guest of Johnson.

Court records also say the bullet found inside Johnson’s apartment came from the same firearm found in Reed’s possession when he was arrested.

Other charges

Reed is already in custody in St. Louis. He has now been charged in seven homicides across Kansas and Missouri, including this Kansas City case.

He’s been charged in the St. Louis County killings of 16-year-old Marnay Haynes on Sept. 13 and 40-year-old Lester Robinson on Sept. 26. 

Meanwhile, in St. Louis City, he’s been charged in the deaths of 49-year-old Pamela Abercrombie on Sept. 16 and 24-year-old Carey Ross on Sept. 19.

The Wyandotte County District Attorney has also charged Reed with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Damon Irvin and Rau’daja Fairrow after a shooting at Wyandotte Towers in late October 2021.