No charges in Missouri woman’s shooting by ex-boyfriend

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Prosecutors said a Kansas City man won’t be charged in his ex-girlfriend’s shooting death after he cited self-defense in a case that has sparked outrage from the woman’s relatives.

Jessika Peppers, 32, of Osceola, was killed about three months ago after she went to David Love’s home in the middle of the day to retrieve an iPhone and laptop, the Kansas City Star reported. Love told investigators he was sleeping when he heard someone breaking in and pulled his gun out from under his bed, a police report said. He said he fired as soon as he saw someone coming into his room and he hadn’t recognized his ex-girlfriend.

Peppers reportedly got into the home through a broken window. She was found with a hammer in her hand.

Court records show Love wasn’t allowed to possess a firearm at the time because a protection order filed by his mother was in place. His mother asked for the order to be terminated after the homicide. Mike Mansur, a spokesman for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, said prosecutors will review whether the order was violated. Love’s attorney could not be reached for comment by the Kansas City Star.

Jessika Peppers died less than a year after the Missouri Senate overrode then-Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a gun bill that included a so-called “stand your ground” provision that said people do not have a duty to retreat when faced with a perceived threat — in their homes and even in public places.

“It is unbelievable that a man can kill a woman who once lived in his house,” said Peppers’ mother, Carol Peppers, of Independence. “She didn’t deserve to be taken out this way.”