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On the morning of March 30, 2017, a violent robbery attempt at a mobile home on North Scott Avenue in Belton, Missouri, ended with 29-year-old Gabriel Brito-Ramirez shot in the neck and killed. A second man at the residence was shot in the shoulder and survived. The assailant arrived at the door armed and demanded money; a struggle followed during which a hat was dropped at the scene.
For years the case remained unsolved. DNA recovered from the hat later produced a lead: in late 2021 authorities identified Charles Branson of St. Clair, Missouri, as a likely contributor to the genetic material and obtained an arrest warrant. Branson was extradited from a federal detention center in Indiana and charged in Cass County with second-degree murder, attempted robbery, first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Further investigation grew to include another suspect. In June 2022 Amy Lynn Kestner, a distant relative of Brito-Ramirez through her ex-husband, was charged with felony murder after witnesses said she admitted involvement and alleged she acted as the getaway driver. Does anyone have information about the night on North Scott Avenue or about people who were in Belton that morning?