The United States Marshals Service Task Force made an arrest Monday afternoon in the murder of a Joplin woman. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro
On Sunday, April 9th at around 3:20 am, officers with the Webb City Police Department were called to the 1000 block of West First Street in Webb City about a disturbance.
Upon their arrival, officers found a 39-year-old female from Joplin unresponsive. The victim was transported to a local hospital and pronounced deceased.
Webb City detectives identified the victim as Maria L. Whitaker, a 39-year-old Hispanic female from Joplin, Missouri.
Webb City Police identified Nicholas Kyle Berry, a 51-year-old black male from Branson, Missouri as a suspect and charged him with, among other counts, First Degree Murder.
Yesterday, at 1:10 in the afternoon, officers with the US Marshal’s Service Task Force arrested Berry in the 400 block of West Sunshine Street in Springfield, Missouri.
Berry was arrested without incident and was transported to the Greene County Sheriff’s Jail, where he will await extradition to Jasper County.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Berry could face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Before Whitaker’s death, the most recent homicide in Webb City was a murder-suicide in 2019.
For 89 9 KRPS News, I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro
