KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Scripps News Kansas City/AP) — A woman in Kansas City, Missouri, has pleaded not guilty in the fatal stabbing of a firefighter paramedic.
Shanetta Bossell, 39, was arrested Sunday on multiple charges in connection with the killing of 29-year-old Graham Hoffman.
Shanetta Bossell (Clay County, Missouri, Detention Center)
Hoffman was a 3-year veteran of the Kansas City Fire Department and had previously worked for the Belton Fire Department.
Police spotted Bossell walking along the shoulder of a highway early Sunday, her finger cut and bleeding, according to the probable cause affidavit. She had been freed on bond just two days earlier in a resisting arrest case that Thompson said involved an assault on a law enforcement officer.
While en route to the hospital, the driver heard Hoffman frantically call for help, saying Bossell had a knife. The driver stopped and then rushed to the back of the vehicle. As he flung open the door, he heard Hoffman say, “She stabbed me in the heart,” the affidavit said.
An officer who was following the ambulance then witnessed Bossell get into the vehicle’s cab and attempt to put it into drive, according to the affidavit. The officer was ultimately able to wrestle her to the ground. But during the fray, she bit his arm, and he hit her in the head with his firearm to get her to let go, the affidavit said.
A second ambulance arrived, and the crew rushed Hoffman to the hospital, where he died later that afternoon.
Less than a week before Sunday’s incident, Bossell was arrested and charged with second-degree assault.
In a probable cause statement filed in Clay County Circuit Court, authorities said Bossell bit a Platte City officer on April 23.
The Platte City officer, living in Kansas City, Missouri, saw Bossell trying to get into his personal vehicle. The officer was still in uniform and told her to stop. The officer stated she then started walking toward the officer’s front door.
This image provided by the Kansas City Fire Department shows Graham Hoffman, a Kansas City, Mo., firefighter and paramedic, posing for a picture at a fire station after joining the department in 2022. (Kansas City Fire Department via AP)
The officer grabbed Bossell by the arm and tried to detain her. Bossell allegedly tried to grab the knife in the officer’s vest multiple times. While trying to radio for help, Bossell bit his arm and would not let go.
Prosecutors charged Bossell with second-degree assault of a police officer and resisting arrest, both felony counts. Bossell posted bond just two days later, on April 25.
Bossell made her initial appearance Monday afternoon in Clay County Circuit Court via video. A judge entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf on charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, assault and resisting arrest.
She remains in the Clay County Jail on a $1 million bond. The judge set a bond review hearing for May 5 and a preliminary hearing for June 6.
The Associated Press and Scripps News Kansas City contributed to this report.
