Prosecutor seeks death penalty in Miller County murder case
The prosecutor in a Miller County murder case intends to seek the death penalty against one of the suspects.
On Wednesday, Miller County Prosecuting Attorney R. Benjamin Winfrey filed a notice of intent to pursue the death penalty against Joseph McKenna, 26, of Chicago.
McKenna was arrested in September in connection with the death of Tyler Worthington, 34, of California, whose body was found in a wooded area in Miller County on June 9 after he had been shot to death.
Worthington and McKenna were allegedly in Missouri to sell marijuana or oil from the plant, according to a probable cause statement. Investigators found that McKenna had made statements about killing Worthington before Worthington’s death.
McKenna is accused of conspiring with Tyler M. Kroll of Lisle, Illinois, to murder Worthington, luring Worthington out of California to Missouri to commit the crime, according to court documents. McKenna also allegedly threatened a witness who had talked to police.
McKenna was originally charged with second-degree murder, but that charge was upgraded to first-degree murder in April. He’s also charged with armed criminal action and tampering with a witness.
Kroll was arrested in March in the Chicago area and brought back to Miller County on suspicion of first-degree murder.
