Eight-year-old boy saw his father shoot his grandmother, affidavit reveals
When Sharmaine Marlene Burke called police on July 30, the 49-year-old grandmother said her drunk son-in-law was threatening to kill her — and that she feared for her 8-year-old grandson’s safety.
Burke, who had only lived in the Longbranch Mobile Home Community near Derby for a few weeks, had been caring for the boy after her daughter, his mother, died last year.
By the time officers arrived, Burke had been shot multiple times. Her grandson, who witnessed the shooting, was missing.
A newly released affidavit details how Stephen Jacob Rogers allegedly shot his mother-in-law, fled with his son and later surrendered to police. He’s now charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, child endangerment and criminal threat.
It began before midnight when Sedgwick County deputies were dispatched to Burke’s home on a domestic violence with a weapon call. Burke had called 911, saying Rogers “was intoxicated and threatened to shoot her in the head,” the affidavit read.
She was on the phone with 911 when the dispatcher heard three to five gunshots, the document said. Burke stopped responding to questions.
When deputies arrived, they found Burke unresponsive in a bedroom with gunshot wounds to her upper body and shoulder, as well as severe trauma to the left side of her head, according to the affidavit. She was declared dead at the scene.
Law enforcement did not find Burke’s grandson in the home. Using Flock surveillance cameras, police were able to track a 2006 blue Honda Accord registered to Rogers that was traveling east on U.S. 54.
In Augusta, Butler County deputies tried to stop the Honda, the affidavit described. Officers could see a child in the front passenger seat.
Rogers eventually stopped and made contact by phone with officers, who persuaded him to get out of the car, the affidavit said. The 29-year-old was then taken into police custody, and his son was placed in protective custody.
While on route to the children’s advocacy center, the affidavit describes, the 8-year-old talked about what he saw in his grandmother’s home.
Boy said he saw his grandmother being shot
“He stated he saw his dad shoot his grandma three times and that he saw lots of blood. He said he called out to grandma and got no response,” the document read. “ … (He) described his dad shooting his grandma four times and his grandma saying ‘Stephen stop.’”
The child also said that when he asked his father why he shot his grandmother, his dad asked him if “he wanted to be shot in the head too, because he had enough bullets.”
The boy described his father’s black gun, which he said he had seen “hundreds of times,” to police and said his dad told him to pack his suitcase and put it in the car after the shooting.
When police interviewed Rogers, the affidavit read, Rogers said he did not know why he had been pulled over. He told police he was going to Florida for work after visiting family in Wichita.
An acquaintance also was at the grandmother’s home
Rogers told police he and Burke ordered and ate a pizza sometime between 6 and 7 p.m. He said before he left for Florida, he dropped off an acquaintance of Burke’s at their home.
Rogers later told police that he, Burke and the acquaintance were all eating pizza together at Burke’s home when Burke called 911. Rogers said that Burke called 911 because she did not want him to take the 8-year-old to Florida, according to the affidavit.
Rogers said as they argued, the acquaintance appeared at the front door with a gun and told Rogers to leave.
He did not mention gunshots then, the affidavit said, but later told police he heard “two or three gunshots” from the back of the house. He also said the acquaintance told him not to say anything or he would kill Rogers.
Rogers said the acquaintance pointed a black handgun at him before forcing Rogers to drive him to his house. Then, Rogers said, he left for Florida.
Police spoke to the acquaintance, the affidavit reports, who said he had been staying with Burke for the past few days “attempting to build a relationship with her.” He told police Rogers drove him to his house at Burke’s request between 11 a.m. and noon on July 30. He said he spent the rest of the day at home; his mother and son confirmed he was home with them.
In the Honda Accord, police found a black 9mm handgun under the driver’s seat. Bullets in the chamber and magazine matched live and spent rounds found near Burke’s body and in an ammunition box in the home, according to records.
Rogers has since been charged with first degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated endangering a child and criminal threat. He’s due to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 14.
