Michael Taylor shot his wife, Mistie Taylor, and then turned the gun on himself at their Leavenworth home on Oct. 14. Mistie Taylor, 58, was already dead when officers arrived at the 2800 block of South 16th Street; Michael Taylor, 52, was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Just two days earlier, police had been called to the same house for a domestic disturbance between the couple.
According to The Kansas City Star, officers responding to that Oct. 12 call did not find probable cause of a crime and made no arrests. Major Dan Nicodemus said police identified Mistie Taylor as the aggressor during that incident, though he declined to specify the nature of the argument. Before leaving the home, officers gave Michael Taylor resources on domestic violence and available services.
The initial investigation indicates the couple had been arguing before Michael Taylor pulled out a handgun on Oct. 14, the newspaper's report notes. Two additional residents were present in the house during the shooting. The 911 caller was Mistie Taylor's daughter, who reported that her mother had been shot by her stepfather; the caller's own son, a minor, was also in the home at the time.
A Pattern of Calls, But No Protective Order
Leavenworth police had responded to four calls about incidents at the Taylor home over the past year, the same reporting shows. Three of those calls, occurring between April and late September, were not related to domestic violence between the couple — one instead concerned a juvenile matter, according to police. Despite the Oct. 12 incident, neither Mistie nor Michael Taylor had sought a temporary protective order against the other by the time of the shooting.
Mistie and Michael Taylor had been married for 12 years. The Alliance Against Family Violence, described as a Leavenworth County domestic violence nonprofit, declined to comment on the case, citing confidentiality concerns, per the same account. The organization operates a 24-hour crisis hotline at 913-675-7217 for those seeking help.
Remembered as a Grandmother With a Heart of Gold
Mistie Taylor was a mother of three and grandmother of five, according to her obituary. She was remembered for her kindness, her love for family, and her dedication to making the world better, and she had advocated for suicide prevention. Friends also recalled her love of traveling to the Caribbean. A fundraiser description characterized her as having a heart of gold and being loved by many.
Part of a Broader, Troubling Trend
Leavenworth County recorded 694 reports of domestic violence in 2021, according to the Alliance Against Family Violence. Across the state line in Kansas City, domestic-violence-related killings had reached 18 so far in 2025, according to an Aug. 20 KMBC report, up from 12 in all of 2024. The Council on Criminal Justice has reported that domestic-violence cases are rising nationally even as overall violent crime declines, and advocates cited by KMBC say there is no single cause behind the increase — pointing instead to a combination of factors, including easy access to guns.
Other recent Kansas cases echo a similar pattern of police contact preceding tragedy. Records show officers responded more than 20 times to a Winfield, Kansas, home involving Ronald Williams Sr. and Kelly George before their family was found dead, according to a separate KMBC report. A Douglas, Georgia, police report, detailed by WALB, similarly described officers responding to a domestic disturbance at a home about a month before a murder-suicide there.
The Kansas Violent Death Reporting System, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since 2014, compiles anonymous data on violent deaths from death certificates, law-enforcement reports and coroner or medical-examiner records, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Its dashboard tracks suicide, homicide and firearm-related deaths statewide, while a related suicide-related data dashboard covers suicidal ideation, self-harm and attempts. No verified statewide 2026 count of domestic-violence incidents or murder-suicides was available for this story.
