KaShawn Nicola Roper had been running for nearly six years. Then, within 24 hours of the FBI plastering her name and face across the country’s most notorious fugitive list, someone made a call.
On Wednesday, law enforcement arrested her in High Springs, Florida, a small town about 20 miles northwest of Gainesville. The arrest came one day after the FBI added her to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and announced a reward of up to $1 million for information about her whereabouts. Roper was booked into Alachua County jail around noon and remained held without bond as of Thursday evening.
Jason Carley, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Jacksonville office, said agents had already been tracking a potential lead in the area before the reward announcement went public. Credible tips that followed the announcement then led the High Springs Police Department directly to Roper.
The 2020 shooting that started it all
The case traces back to the early morning hours of Aug. 23, 2020, in Kansas City, Missouri. Police responded to a hospital after two women arrived by private vehicle with gunshot wounds. One of them, Jazmyn Henrion, 23, was pronounced dead on arrival. The second victim survived with non-life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses told investigators that a woman matching Roper’s description fired multiple shots into a car during an argument. One witness said the shooting was triggered because Roper believed the car’s passengers were staring her down. Another described a confrontation that unfolded when one of the passengers had gone to a nearby address to buy marijuana, saying a male in the car threw something resembling a bottle at Roper before the shots were fired. A third witness said the woman outside threw a drink at the people in the car before opening fire.
Roper’s charges
Roper was identified as the suspect and charged 18 days after the shooting, on Sept. 10, 2020, with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon. By 2021, federal officials had added another charge: unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a news conference Tuesday that investigators had tracked Roper’s movements through Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, Colorado, and Georgia during her years as a fugitive.
Roper and what comes next
With Roper now in custody in Florida, the case that Kansas City law enforcement had refused to let go cold is moving toward trial. For Henrion’s family and those who knew her, the arrest marks a shift after years of waiting for accountability in a case rooted in a moment of street-level conflict that cost a 23-year-old her life.
The FBI does not publicly identify tipsters or confirm whether reward money has been paid out, a policy designed to protect those who come forward. What is clear is that the $1 million announcement accelerated a process that had stalled for years.
A Kansas City attorney listed as Roper’s counsel in the state murder case had not responded to a request for comment as of Thursday evening.
