Woman charged after father, son killed in Freeman, Mo. shooting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Harrisonville woman faces two counts of criminal charges in connection to a deadly shooting at an apartment in Freeman, Mo. on Friday, Aug. 16.

Misty M. Stufflebean, 43, is being charged with one count of first-degree burglary and one count of fourth-degree assault.

According to court records, just before 1 p.m. on Aug. 16, deputies with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office arrived at an apartment near Main and Washington.

Upon arrival, officers found a father and son, 47-year-old Michael Spear and 27-year-old Brian Spear, suffering from gunshot wounds. One of the men was pronounced dead at the scene, and the other died at a hospital.

On Saturday, Aug. 17, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office announced that Stufflebean had been charged in connection to the shooting.

Before she was arrested, Stufflebean gave a statement to law enforcement and said she, along with Michael and Brian, went to the apartment on Aug. 16 to find a woman who was allegedly the romantic partner of one of the Spears men.

Stufflebean said she knocked on the door and asked if the girlfriend was at home, however, a man answered and “shut the door in their face.”

She said that as they walked back to the car, the man inside the apartment began shooting at Stufflebean, Michael and Brian.

Stufflebean claimed that no physical violence or threats were made to induce this response.

However, statements from both the girlfriend and the man inside the apartment did not match Stufflebean’s.

Both individuals claimed that Stufflebean knocked on the door and pushed her way into the residence to fight the girlfriend.

After the fight between the women started, one of the Spear men also tried to enter the apartment.

The man inside said he asked the intruders to leave, but they refused. He also said that one of the Spear men carried a gun “religiously” and that he was “f—king terrified” for himself, the girlfriend and an autistic child also present at the time of the shooting.

As a result, the man grabbed a gun from the bedroom and held it behind his back while continuing to tell the Stufflebean, Michael and Brian to leave, which they refused to do.

When he turned toward the Spear men, he said one of them was either pointing a gun at him or raising it toward him. The man said this led to the shooting where he fired the gun two times at Brian and Michael in the doorway.

After the man’s statement, the Sheriff’s Office questioned Stufflebean again due to the inconsistencies relating to the location of the shooting.

Stufflebean claimed in her original statement that the men were shot near the car, however, blood spatter in the doorframe and the statement from the man inside the apartment contrast this.

When confronted, Stufflebean said the blood must have come from the man inside the apartment and that she was also “running away” after seeing the gun and couldn’t explain the order of events.

She admitted to going after the girlfriend but was held back by one of the Spear men. Stufflebean also said she never entered the apartment.

When detectives asked for more clarification, Stufflebean stopped talking and said she wanted an attorney.

Investigations are still ongoing, however, Stufflebean is being held without bond and is making her first court appearance on Monday at 3 p.m.

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