The trial for a Kansas City man accused of killing six people from 2016 to 2017 is set to begin Thursday, Sept. 3.
Fredrick Demond Scott, 31, has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
The trial comes nine years after Scott was first charged, following repeated delays stemming from questions about his mental competency to stand trial. Those delays ended in 2025, when a Jackson County judge ruled that Scott was mentally competent to stand trial.
Why is Fredrick Demond Scott called the 'Indian Creek serial killer'?
All of the victims in the case were found in remote areas in south Kansas City, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor, including near a homeless camp and near the Indian Creek Trail. Because of the location of the cases, local media began to refer to the suspect
as the "Indian Creek serial killer."
Who were the victims in the Indian Creek murders?
Scott's alleged victims include:
- Mike Darby, 61, who was shot on May 18, 2017
- Steven Gibbons, 57, who was shot on Aug. 13, 2017
- Karen Harmeyer, 64, who was found in July 2017
- David Lenox, 67, who was found on Feb. 27, 2017
- John Palmer, 54, who was found on Aug. 19, 2016
- Timothy S. Rice, 57, who was found on April 3, 2017
Authorities do not believe Scott knew any of the victims.
Police found surveillance footage showing Scott following Gibbons after he got off a bus on the day he was shot, according to court documents. Detectives later linked Scott to the crime scene through DNA recovered from an iced tea bottle and a cigarette butt. He was also connected to Palmer's killing through DNA found on a T-shirt left at the scene.
Was Fredrick Scott known by police before the Indian Creek murders?
Scott first came to public attention in 2014 while attending Center Alternative School in Kansas City, when he said he wanted to "kill all white people" and threatened to carry out a "Columbine-style" school shooting. Scott was handed a suspended 180-day sentence for the incident.
Police said they don't know if the killings were racially driven. Scott's mother said her son "never had a problem with white people" and that he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
Ahmed Jawadi is a trending and service reporter based in Missouri.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trial begins for accused Kansas City serial killer Fredrick Scott
