Latest news with #RuslanHuseynov
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Beloved journalist's road rage shooting solved months after he was executed on the highway
A Missouri man was arrested for the death of a beloved sports journalist, who he allegedly shot dead during a road rage incident. Ruslan Huseynov, 34, was charged with the death of Dennis Starkey Jr., a 50-year-old journalist for the Platte County Citizen. Authorities believe Huseynov fatally shot Starkey during a road rage incident on January 10, 2025, as the journalist was on his way home from covering a sporting event, KCTV 5 reported. Witnesses who stopped on I-29 after seeing two cars pulled over told authorities they said a driver pulled out a gun and pointed it at the victim's car. 'As the couple accelerated from the scene, they heard a gunshot,' Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said at a press conference. However, authorities admit it is unclear what caused the escalation between the two men. 'We actually still don't know what really led up to this shooting,' the attorney said. 'It certainly has all the hallmarks of a road rage case, but at the end of the day, we don't know exactly what happened on that highway.' First responders found Starkey's car crashed and the journalist unresponsive in the front seat. He was pronounced dead at North Kansas City Hospital. A preliminary autopsy revealed the reporter died from a single gunshot wound. Police interviewed Huseynov on Tuesday, where he denied having a gun. A photo on his phone indicated he owned a gun, but when asked about it, Huseynov said the weapon belonged to a friend who was trying to tell it to him for $500. After a search warrant was executed on his home, a pistol that matched the shell casing found at the crime scene was found inside a safe in his bedroom. The following day, Huseynov was charged with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action. The alleged murderer is now in the Platte County Jail, where he is being held without bond. Huseynov was identified via 'suspicious' cellphone data from the crash area, leading authorities to believe his phone was 'in a vehicle which came to a stop on the interstate,' the probable cause statement said. Additional data tracked him to a liquor store nearby. Sheriff Erik Holland offered his condolences to the family, saying: 'Tragedy does not begin to describe what this family has had to endure.' Sharkey left behind his parents, Nancy Montaleone and Dennis Sharkey Sr., who are separated; his close friends, and his dog Charlie. The journalist got a start in his career working for Lifetouch Publishing straight out of high school. After graduating from college, he went on to work for a variety of news publications in Missouri and Kansas, his obituary said. He would cover North Kansas City School District sports from 2022 to 2024, before he went onto the Platte County Citizen, where he covered all sports. The journalist was also a Kansas City Chiefs fan and often tailgated with people before the games. The family started a GoFundMe to help his mother, who Starkey cared for. 'Dennis was not only a beloved son, cousin, and friend, but also a dedicated caretaker to his mother, who is now left to navigate this unimaginable heartbreak,' the fundraiser read. 'Dennis's passing has left his mom not only emotionally shattered but also facing immense financial burdens. He was her rock, her caretaker, and her provider.' His mother also lost her husband, Jay Montaleone, just days before her son. The fundraiser has garnered $15,290 of its $5,000 goal.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Fox News
Sports reporter gunned down in road-rage shooting on interstate, police say
A Missouri man has been arrested and charged in connection with a Jan. 10 road-rage shooting that left a former sports reporter dead. Ruslan Huseynov, 34, is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with Dennis Sharkey Jr.'s death, according to Platte County records. The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department initially received a 911 call around 7 p.m. on Jan. 10 from a man and his girlfriend, who had been driving behind Huseynov's and Sharkey's vehicles on I-29, driving southbound in the right-hand lane. Huseynov's vehicle was at the front with Sharkey's directly behind his, and the witnesses behind Huseynov, according to a probable cause statement filed in Platte County. The witnesses described seeing the suspect and victim vehicles come to a stop in front of them, forcing them to stop on the interstate, as well, the probable cause statement says. The witnesses then pulled into the middle lane and continued southbound on I-29, but as they were driving by the two stopped cars, they saw the suspect, who appeared to be of "Middle Eastern or Italian" descent, in the first car get out of his vehicle with a gun. "They noticed the man with the gun point it at the victim's car and then fled the scene. They heard a gunshot as they continued southbound on I-29 and called 911," the probable cause statement reads. First responders located the victim's vehicle crashed into a fence on I-29 with the victim, identified as Sharkey, inside. He had a gunshot wound, and authorities transported him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:51 p.m. Authorities linked "suspicious" cellphone data from the area of the crash to Huseynov and found bullet casings near the same scene. Police believe based on cellular tower data records and multiple views of traffic patterns at the time and place of the crime that Huseynov's cellphone "was in a vehicle which came to a stop on the interstate" at the time of Sharkey's death, the probable cause statement says. A search warrant executed on Huseynov's cellphone put him in the Platte County area on the afternoon of Jan. 10 and traced the 34-year-old to a nearby liquor store that day. He was pulled over for a traffic violation in March and arrested on an unrelated charge in June. At the time of the June arrest, he provided his cellphone information, and police questioned him about the Jan. 10 shooting on I-29. "I showed him a picture of a hand showing a 9mm magazine which contained 9mm ammunition and which had been discovered in Huseynov's iCloud account pusuant to the search warrant," the probable cause affidavit states. "Huseynov admitted the hand was his and the picture was taken inside his house. Huseynov stated a friend bought the gun to his house in an attempt to sell it to him for $500." Police then executed a search warrant at Huseynov's residence and discovered the 9mm gun, 9mm ammunition and 9mm magazine in a safe in the suspect's bedroom. The bullet recovered from Sharkey's body and shell casings located at the scene matched the items recovered from the suspect's home, police said. A GoFundMe for Sharkey titled "Honor Dennis: Support His Mom in Her Time of Need" described Sharkey as "not only a beloved son, cousin, and friend, but also a dedicated caretaker to his mother, who is now left to navigate this unimaginable heartbreak." An obituary for the 50-year-old victim states that he "worked for a variety of news publications in the Missouri and Kansas regions." "During his journalistic career he created the Northland Buzz with his friend Cody Snapp and covered sports for the North Kansas City School District from 2022-2024. Most recently, Dennis served as the reporter and photographer for all sports for the Platte County Citizen," the obituary says. Sharkey's "most recent job was at SAS Merchandising as a representative for Tyson's Foods." "Dennis loved sports, particularly the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals and the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. Dennis was very passionate about his relationship with his maternal grandmother Edna, and loved gardening," the obituary says. Huseynov is being held in the Platte County Detention Center without bond. He did not have a defense attorney listed in public records databases at the time of publication.
