Kansas City Police Officer Blayne Newton shouldn’t have been on the city’s east side on June 9, 2023, when he killed two people and injured a third. But he had to go to the bathroom.
Newton had been assigned to North Patrol, in Clay County, because Jackson County prosecutors refused to take his cases, citing Newton’s history of using unwarranted excessive force, according to several sources.
Last week, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson declined to file criminal charges against Newton, though she had told KCPD leadership she had concerns about his continued employment on the force. In a letter to KCPD Chief Stacey Graves, Johnson alluded to “potential consequences” Newton’s history posed for prosecutors taking on cases Newton is involved in…