The U.S. Justice Department’s “Operation LeGend” in Kansas City resulted in a murder charge against the alleged killer of 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro.
“Today’s arrest of LeGend Taliferro’s suspected murderer marks a significant step forward in his case and illustrates the potential of Operation Legend more broadly,” Attorney General William Barr said, according to “National Review.” “The arrest and state charges resulted from cooperation among Kansas City police officers, the FBI, and U.S. Marshals. This development is a model for joint efforts to solve crimes and reduce violence in other cities. I thank the state and local law enforcement officers who helped make possible this important step in bringing justice to LeGend, to his family and to his community.”
Ryson Ellis has been apprehended and charged in the murder of 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro.
Ryson Ellis, 22, was charged with felony counts of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced at a news conference in Kansas City. Ellis faces up to life in prison and is being held at Tulsa County Jail in Oklahoma.
The death of LeGend mirrors countless other incidents across the nation as violence against innocent bystanders skyrockets. Many of the deaths have occurred during protests for Black Lives Matters, including a retired police officer David Dorn in St. Louis. Many of those incidents have not been covered by national media to the extent they cover the protests themselves.
Taliferro was shot and killed on June 29 as he slept in an apartment building in south Kansas City. In the days leading up to the shooting, Ellis had allegedly assaulted a woman, identified as the sister of LeGend’s father, who was in the apartment at the time of the shooting. The woman said she has a child with Ellis. Ellis was injured in a confrontation afterwards with the woman’s brothers at his residence, during which the woman threatened the brothers with a gun.
LeGend’s death spurred the creation of Operation Legend, a federal anti-crime initiative described as “a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight the sudden surge of violent crime.”Top of FormBottom of Form
Last month, the operation sent more than 200 federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; FBI and the U.S. Marshals office to Kansas City, which has seen a 40 percent spike this year in homicides over last year. More than 150 people have been arrested in the city as a result.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
