KCTV5 said Charles Smith-Howell was sentenced to 72 years in Ebony Duncan’s death. The Kansas City Star, KSHB, and KMBC still had the sentencing date as Oct. 5.

A sentence the prosecutor’s office announced on Nov. 6, and a sentencing hearing the July stories placed on Oct. 5, are not the same date. Two counts of tampering, on KCTV5, the Kansas City Star, and KMBC, and tampering in the singular, on KSHB, are not the same count. A bullet wound to the shoulder, on the Star, an autopsy that determined she had been shot, on KSHB, and a homicide ruling with no wound described, on KCTV5, are not the same account of how Ebony Duncan died.

KCTV5, by Sarah Motter, published Nov. 6, 2026, at 1:22 p.m. CST, reported the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced that day that Charles Smith-Howell, 44, received consecutive sentences for second-degree murder and other crimes connected to the 2023 killing of Ebony Duncan. The dateline on that page reads KCTV. The site is KCTV5. Prosecutors said he was sentenced to 30 years for second-degree murder, 15 years for armed criminal action, 15 years for unlawful use of a weapon, 4 years for abandonment of a corpse, and 8 years for two counts of tampering with physical evidence. Those five figures are what the page lists. Added together they are 72, which is the total in the headline and the lede. The photo caption spells him Charles R. Smith-Howell, 44, and credits the Jackson County Detention Center. The body spells Charles Smith-Howell and does not print the middle initial. Consecutive is the word the announcement uses. The Kansas City Star, by Caroline Zimmerman, July 21, 2026, at 9:39 p.m., reported a Jackson County jury on July 17 found him guilty of second-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, abandonment of a corpse, and two counts of tampering with physical evidence in felony prosecution, according to a Jackson County court document. It says he is set to appear for a sentencing hearing on October 5. KSHB reported the July 17 guilty findings and listed tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution, in the singular, and said he is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 5. KMBC, by Nick Sloan, updated July 21, 2026, at 8:38 p.m. CDT, reported two counts of tampering with physical evidence and said court records indicate he is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 5. July 17, 2026, was a Friday. Oct. 5, 2026, was a Monday. Nov. 6, 2026, was a Friday. Two counts, on KCTV5, the Star, and KMBC, and one tampering count, on KSHB, are not the same count. “In felony prosecution,” on the Star and KSHB, is not on KCTV5’s list of terms. A sentencing hearing on October 5, in those July stories, and a sentence the prosecutor’s office announced on Nov. 6, are not the same date. None of the July stories prints 30, 15, 15, 4, 8, or 72.

KCTV5 says Duncan, 44, was last seen leaving her job at Sunterra Springs, a nursing home in Independence, on Sept. 6, 2023, and that the Independence Police Department said her daughter reported the next day that she had not been seen or heard from since leaving work. The daughter is not named. It says surveillance footage showed Duncan walking from work before she got into a silver Chrysler 200, and that a probable cause statement says she and Smith-Howell had previously dated and that phone records showed their phones traveling west from Independence toward Kansas City that evening. It says police recovered the Chrysler in Kansas City on Sept. 21, 2023, and that a sample from the driver’s side interior door matched Duncan’s DNA. It says investigators found her remains in a wooded area near 83rd and Hillcrest Rd. in Kansas City on Oct. 31, 2023, and that a medical examiner ruled her death a homicide. The Star says she vanished after leaving work in Independence on Sept. 6, 2023, calls her a certified nursing assistant, and says investigators found her body nearly two months later in a wooded area in south Kansas City. Sunterra Springs, on KCTV5, and certified nursing assistant, on the Star, are not the same job line. Near 83rd and Hillcrest Rd., on KCTV5, and a wooded area in south Kansas City, on the Star, are not the same place line. The Star also says the body was found near 83rd Street and Hillcrest Road on Oct. 31, 2023. Hillcrest Rd., and Hillcrest Road, are not the same abbreviation, and 83rd, and 83rd Street, are not the same. KMBC says she was last seen the evening of Sept. 6, 2023, walking toward home while talking on her cellphone, before she got into the passenger seat of a vehicle, and that cellphone records indicated she was on a call with Smith-Howell. Walking from work, on KCTV5, and walking toward home, on KMBC, are not the same direction. A silver Chrysler 200, on KCTV5, and the passenger seat of a vehicle, on KMBC, are not the same car line. KCTV5 does not print passenger. KSHB says she was last seen on surveillance video leaving a nursing home in Independence on Sept. 6, 2023, talking on the phone with a number tied to Smith-Howell, then getting into a car that matched the description of a car belonging to Smith-Howell’s girlfriend at the time. The Star says that when he was arrested he had paperwork for the Chrysler registered to his girlfriend, and a license plate registered to the Chrysler. Previously dated, on KCTV5, and a Chrysler registered to his girlfriend, on the Star, and a car matching his girlfriend’s car, on KSHB, are not the same account of whose car it was. KCTV5 does not print the word girlfriend. KSHB says he was charged in July 2024 after Duncan’s blood was found in a car he was driving. A DNA sample from the driver’s side interior door, on KCTV5, and blood in a car, on KSHB, are not the same evidence line. Sept. 21, 2023, the day KCTV5 says the Chrysler was recovered, is not on the July stories read here.

The Star says Duncan’s body was found with a bullet wound to the shoulder, according to the probable cause statement, and that autopsy results confirmed the remains to be hers. KSHB says an autopsy determined she had been shot. KCTV5 says a medical examiner ruled her death a homicide and does not print a gunshot, a bullet, or a shoulder. A bullet wound to the shoulder, shot, and a homicide ruling with no wound, are not the same account. The Star says the Independence Police Department’s SWAT unit arrested him on Sept. 14, 2023, that he was driving a Buick SUV, and that investigators found his IDs, the Chrysler paperwork, the Chrysler plate, and a gun magazine loaded with 12 rounds. KCTV5’s Nov. 6 story does not print SWAT, Sept. 14, a Buick, or a magazine. The Star calls him her former boyfriend. KSHB calls him her ex-boyfriend. KCTV5 says they had previously dated. Former boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, and previously dated are not the same word. KCTV5 quotes a co-worker, Amber Williams, from an earlier interview, calling Duncan a very caring, loving person who was compassionate about her work. That quotation is not in the July stories read here. The 72-year total is what the prosecutor’s office announced, as KCTV5 reported it. The July stories still had him waiting on an Oct. 5 sentencing date. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.