The man accused of killing Citizen sports reporter Dennis Sharkey appeared in court late last week, entering a plea of not guilty.
On Thursday, June 12, Ruslan Huseynov, 34, appeared in custody and with the assistance of an Azerbaijani interpreter. He was given a public defender application. On Monday, June 16, the case was reassigned to Judge Quint Shafer.
Huseynov was charged last week in the Jan. 10 shooting death of Sharkey on Interstate 29 at Northwest 72nd Street.
Huseynov
Huseynov has been charged with second degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action.
“This has been a complex investigation where deputies with the Platte County Sheriff’s Office pieced together cell phone data and surveillance footage to identify a suspect,” Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said at a press conference held Wednesday, June 11. “Investigators arrested that man, served a search warrant at his residence, and located the weapon we allege was used in the shooting. I can’t say enough about the dogged determination of investigators who refused to give up on this difficult case.”
According to court documents, authorities received a 911 phone call on Jan. 10 shortly after 7 p.m. related to a shooting. That call came from a couple who had been traveling southbound on I-29 between Barry Road and NW 72nd Street. They saw a dark-colored car, later identified as the suspect vehicle, followed by a white car, later identified as a 2019 Chevrolet Spark, which was driven by the victim.
The couple said that the two cars came to a stop in the far right lane of the Interstate, requiring the vehicle in which the couple were traveling to also stop. As the couple pulled around the stopped cars, the driver of the dark colored car got out of his vehicle with a gun in his hand and pointed at the victim’s car. As the couple accelerated from the scene, they heard a gunshot.
The female witness described the suspect as a male of possible Italian or Middle Eastern descent.
The victim’s car crashed approximately ¼ mile south of NW 72nd Street, coming to rest against a fence that separates I-29 and NW Prairie View Road. Emergency workers found Sharkey in the vehicle unresponsive with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. Sharkey was taken to North Kansas City Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy revealed the preliminary cause of death to be a single gunshot wound.
A canine belonging to the ATF discovered a recently expended single 9 mm shell casing on I-29, north of NW 72nd Street.
Sharkey’s cell phone was recovered from his vehicle. A search warrant related to data from the phone showed the phone communicating at 6:57:50 p.m. on the night of the shooting with the cell phone tower near 6600 NW Tower Drive at 6:57:50, which is located about 950 meters from where the shell casing was found.
A search warrant for other cellular signals traveling southbound at the same time revealed a cell phone allegedly belonging to Huseynov traveling southbound on I-29 and communicating with the cell phone tower on NW Tower Drive at 6:57:43 p.m. on the night of the shooting.
Court documents indicate that phone spent 62 seconds on I-29 in a space of 900 meters, leading investigators to Huseynov’s phone was in a vehicle that stopped on I-29 at the time of the shooting.
Investigators also reviewed surveillance footage documenting what the eyewitness couple reported.
On June 10, authorities interviewed Huseynov. According to court documents, he allegedly confirmed his cell phone number and denied owning a gun. When presented with an image from his own phone’s cloud showing him holding a 9 mm magazine, loaded, he admitted it was his hand in the photo, but claimed the gun belonged to a friend, whose name he could not recall, who attempted to sell him the gun.
A search warrant was executed at his residence, and authorities located a 9 mm Stoeger pistol in a safe in his bedroom. Court documents state that testing by the Kansas City Police Crime Laboratory confirmed that the shell casing located at the scene of the crime and the bullet removed from Sharkey’s body during the autopsy were identified and verified to test fires performed on the pistol recovered from Huseynov’s bedroom.
Huseynov is being held in the Platte County Jail without bond.
“This has been a difficult investigation that involved multiple agencies,” said Sheriff Erik Holland. “I cannot thank the Metro Squad, the Kansas City Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms enough for their help throughout this case. We would not be here today however, without the incredible work performed by the Platte County Cyber Crimes Unit and particularly Sgt. Jason Penix. They have been relentless in their pursuit of this case and seeking justice for Mr. Sharkey and his family.”
Members of Sharkey’s family attended the press conference, holding a photo of Sharkey on the job covering a sporting event.
Huseynov, who worked for World Liquor in both Liberty and Platte City, also faces municipal charges in Pleasant Valley for failure to signal a turn. He faces additional criminal charges in Platte City, for allegedly stealing from the Platte City Price Chopper several times.
According to court documents, Huseynov has “several police interactions and a conviction for sexual battery out of the state of Kansas.” In that case, police were concerned he would not show up to court as he planned to leave the country and return to Azerbaijan.