A Kansas City man has been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of his brother, according to court documents.
Jacob Ackerman, 43, was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action over the weekend.
Police Started Investigating After Victim's Relative Reported No Movement from the Victim for 7 Hours on GPS-Tracking App
The Sugar Creek Police Department started investigating after they received a request for a wellness check from a caller about a relative around 10.15 p.m. on Saturday, July 12. The caller said the relative's GPS-tracking app Life 360 had shown no movement for the past seven hours in the area of Missouri Route 291 and Missouri Route 210.
When officers arrived at the last-pinged location on Life360, they found the victim dead on the bank of a pond with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, according to court documents.
Family Members Told Police they Believed Ackerman was Responsible for the Murder
Around 3 a.m. Sunday, family members contacted police, saying they believed the victim's brother, who they identified as Ackerman, was responsible. Police heard a conversation in the background, in which two people described it as a "Cain and Abel" situation, court documents said.
Police located Ackerman at a McDonald's early Sunday and detained him. A relative on the scene asked Ackerman why he killed the victim, to which he allegedly did not respond and "looked at her with a blank stare on his face," court documents said.
Ackerman Described as Being 'Jealous of the Victim for Most of His Life Due to the Victim Being Successful'
At police headquarters, relatives shared a photo of the brothers in the location where the victim's body was found. Family said that Ackerman's mental health had allegedly been declining and he was "jealous of the victim for most of his life due to the victim being successful and Jacob struggling," court documents said.
Surveillance video from a nearby gas station showed the brothers together in a vehicle before the victim's death. Ackerman at first told police he did not know where his brother was. Detectives told Ackerman the situation didn't look good, to which Ackerman reportedly said, "If it looks bad then it's bad," according to court documents.
In a later interview with Jackson County Sheriff's Office deputies, Ackerman reportedly admitted to shooting the victim in the head from behind. He allegedly did so due to "an argument over a girl." Ackerman said he did not remember what he did with the gun after the shooting. Ackerman had his initial court appearance on Monday.
