Amanda Remmers, 21, died June 22, 2009, in Kansas City, Kansas.
She was fatally shot in a quadruple homicide by a 37-year-old man she had known just a few weeks. Amanda had decided to discontinue dating him when she learned more about him, and he became severely abusive. On the day Amanda died, he had found her at an auto parts store where he threatened to kill her and others, and beat the male friend she was with, injuring him. After Amanda returned to the home where she was staying, her ex parked his van a distance away and walked there on foot. Inside the home, he shot the homeowner, 66-year-old James A. Warren, four times in the kitchen. He shot a second resident of the home, Peggy Castleberry, 41, five times inside the doorway, and shot Peggy’s 3-year-old daughter, Juanita Castleberry-Bess, six times on the outside sidewalk of the home. He shot Amanda 11 times, eight times in the back, then smashed a full length mirror over her body. He was taken into custody the following day after a two state car chase.
In 2012, Amanda’s killer, Adrian Burks, 40, who was facing the death penalty, was offered a plea deal in order to spare the victim’s families a trial. In exchange for dropping the death penalty, he pleaded no contest to four counts of first-degree murder and received four life sentences. He will be eligible for parole after 200 years.
Burks has a long history of violent behavior, spent several years in prison for robbery and burglary, and at least two women have filed for Protection Orders against him.
He is also a person of interest in the July 25, 2005, strangulation death of former girlfriend, 29-year-old Chaleta Robertson, in San Diego County, California.
Three months before Burks killed Amanda and her friends, he fatally shot 24-year-old Johnny Baer but was not charged after his family member told police it was self-defense. However, the next month, he was charged with battery and a criminal threat against Johnny’s sister. He was out of jail on pretrial release in that case when he killed Amanda and her friends.