KANSAS CITY —A jury in Jackson County convicted 43-year-old Michael Hendricks and 33-year-old Maggie Ybarra in the murder of 32-year-old Kensie Aubry, whose body was found in garbage bags on a Grain Valley, Missouri, property, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.
Hendricks waived sentencing Thursday night, after the jury's verdict. He will be sentenced at a formal sentencing later. But his Murder in the 1st Degree conviction has a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Ybarra was to be sentenced Friday. The jury convicted her of Murder in the 2nd Degree and other felonies.
In Aug. 2021, a Jackson County grand jury indicted both on charges of Murder 1st Degree, Harassment 1st Degree and Sexual Misconduct 1st Degree.
The indictment also charged Hendricks with the additional charges of Enticement of a Child and Child Molestation 3rd Degree.
Ybarra was additionally charged with Enticement of a Child, Sexual Misconduct 1st Degree, a misdemeanor count of Tampering With Physical Evidence and three counts of Tampering With A Victim.
Aubry went missing in October 2020. A teenage girl who said Hendricks sexually assaulted her helped police find Aubry's body.
At the time of the indictment, Prosecutor Baker praised the child victim in the case who came forward as a witness. On Thursday evening, following the jury's verdict, Baker stated: "I am grateful for a brave child who came forward to tell law enforcement what occurred, who endured, who testified, and who can only be described as an unmitigated hero."