A fatal traffic accident seven years ago that killed a popular employee at a Mission dry cleaners has resulted in a murder conviction.
On Friday, a Johnson County jury found Landunn D. Richardson, 52, of Kansas City, Kansas guilty of a second-degree murder charge and of driving with a suspended license.
His sentencing has been set for Nov. 21.
The 2016 incident happened in the 5100 block of Metcalf Avenue in far northern Overland Park after Richardson’s pickup crossed the median from the southbound lanes and into the northbound lane, striking a car driven by Vickie Taylor, 50.
Taylor was an employee of Pride Cleaners in Mission, where Mission police officers took their uniforms for cleaning. She was also well known there and at her church, the Praise Chapel Christian Fellowship in Kansas City, Kansas.
Some 500 people attended her memorial service days after the crash.
In 2022, the Kansas City Star editorialized on Richardson’s lengthy pretrial incarceration, which the editorial writer attributed to his reluctance to make a guilty plea and inability to pay bond.
At the time, Richardson had been in jail for four years. The COVID pandemic also delayed a trial.
As of Monday, Richardson was listed as an inmate at the county’s adult detention center.
Richardson’s attorney, James Spies, has filed a motion for a new trial based on what he contends were errors in admission of some evidence during the trial.
Spies said he could not comment further on an open case.
Roxie Hammill is a freelance journalist who reports frequently for the Post and other Kansas City area publications. You can reach her at roxieham@gmail.com.
