KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The man charged with the death of a Kansas City, Missouri police officer, a pedestrian and a police K-9 made his first court appearance Friday afternoon.
Jerron Allen Lightfoot, 18, appeared before Jackson County Courthouse Judge Adam Caine on Friday, wearing an orange jumpsuit.
After Caine read the charges against Lightfoot, two counts of first-degree manslaughter, he replied that he intended to hire his own attorney.
At the end of the initial appearance, Caine set Lightfoot’s bail at $30,000/10%.
Lightfoot has posted $3,000 bail, according to court documents, but that doesn’t mean he’ll go free.
Caine has established house arrest as a condition of his bond, and Jackson County requires house arrest to occur within county limits for tracking purposes.
Lightfoot will not be allowed to return to his home in Tonganoxie while under house arrest. Additionally, he may not drive or have contact with Muhlbauer’s family or any witnesses if and when he is released on bail.
Lightfoot is expected to appear in court again on February 27 for a bond review hearing.
The allegations stem from an incident Wednesday night in which Lightfoot allegedly drove through a red light at Truman Road while traveling nearly double the posted speed limit. At the intersection, Lightfoot collided with a KCPD patrol car driven by Officer James Muhlbauer.
The collision pinned a pedestrian under the wreckage, killing the man in his 50s. Police have not yet identified the dead pedestrian.
Champ, a K-9 police officer in the back seat of Muhlbauer’s patrol car, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Muhlbauer was transported to a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries.
Muhlbauer is the officer who arrested Brandon Howell after he killed five people in the South Kansas City community of Woodbridge in 2014.
—
