Murder on Lynndale Street

KENNETT, Mo. - The quiet of a cold, cloudy New Year's Eve here in a usually peaceful, middle-class neighborhood is shattered by the explosive sound of gunfire.

Just a few minutes before 7 p.m., a woman is shot dead in her Lynndale Street home.

And shortly later, a son is arrested.

Linda Lloyd, a 67-year-old wife, mother and grandmother, of 1915 Lynndale St., Kennett, is found by police, lifeless on the home's living room floor, shot down by someone who wielded a .45 caliber handgun, police say.

The alleged gunman, her son, 44-year-old Tommy Joe Lloyd, also of the home, is arrested and taken into custody by officers.

The tragic incident first is reported locally at 6:43 p.m. on Dec. 31 by a 911 telephone call placed by a woman who says her brother has a gun to his head, according to reports.

That call is followed by another, fielded by police dispatchers about five minutes later, from a third party who reports Tommy Lloyd has the gun, reports indicate.

Approximately eight minutes pass, a Kennett Police Dept. (KPD) officer requests assistance at the residence and a few seconds later, the officer reports the residence is secure.

The officer also relays information about a victim with a gunshot wound to the head.

And that the fatal blow isn't self inflicted, reports state.

A probable cause affidavit (PCA) submitted by Missouri State Highway Patrol Master Sgt. JD Johnson and filed Jan. 1, 2025, indicates Linda Lloyd at approximately 6:10 p.m. on Dec. 31, calls a son and tells him his brother, Tommy Joe Lloyd has a gun to his head.

Johnson's PCA continues, and states the caller hears Tommy Joe Lloyd tell Linda Lloyd he's sorry, that the call ends abruptly and that he trys to reach Linda Lloyd a number of times afterward, but is unsuccessful.

KPD officers respond to the single-story, ranch-style home, where a car and a pickup truck park in the drive.

And Tommy Joe Lloyd apologizes as he's taken into custody and is whisked away from the house by officers, Johnson's report states.

“The body of Mrs. Lloyd was found on the floor of the living room of the residence, apparently suffering from a gunshot wound entering her neck and exiting the back of her head,” Johnson writes. “A .45 caliber handgun belonging to Tommy Lloyd was found at the scene and recovered.”

Tommy Joe Lloyd in a subsequent interview, “admitted to shooting his mom, but could not provide a definitive reason as to why she was shot,” according to the PCA.

“At the time of the homicide, Tommy Lloyd was out on bond from a possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute charge in Clay County, Ark.,” Johnson reports, and he requests a felony arrest warrant.

Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Nicholas Jain on Jan.1, 2025 charges Tommy Joe Lloyd with felony first-degree murder and felony armed criminal action; felony second-degree murder as an alternative to first degree murder and felony armed criminal action; and felony unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court records.

Jain's no-bond request indicates, “defendant shot and killed his mother, which makes him a danger to the community,” and “based on the sentences he faces,” he is a flight risk.

“He also admitted to law enforcement that he was habitually drugged,” Jain writes. “He also committed these offenses while he was out on bond for various drug-related offenses in Clay County, Arkansas.”

On Jan. 1, 2025, 35th Judicial District Circuit Court Division 2 Associate Judge John Spielman issues an arrest warrant that lists all charges and orders Tommy Joe Lloyd to obey all laws, to have no contact with Linda Lloyd's family through any medium and to stay more than 1,000 feet away from the victim's residence, place of employment or education, and not to possess or consume alcohol or drugs unless the drugs are prescribed by a physician, according to court documents.

Jain's no-bond request indicates “defendant shot and killed his mother, which makes him a danger to the community,” and “based on the sentences he faces, he is a flight risk.”

The New Year's Eve slaying is the county's second murder of 2024, the first being that of a small child who ingests methamphetamine on Jan. 4, 2024 at Gobler, Jain says Thursday.

The city's last homicide occurs Aug. 30, 2023, when a 14-year-old assailant stabs a 33-year-old Kennett man to death in the 900 block of Henderson Street, Jain says.

Tommy Joe Lloyd appears without representation before Judge Spielman at 9 a.m. on Jan. 2 at the Dunklin County Justice Center, Courtroom A, at Kennett, court records state.

Missouri State Highway Patrol detectives, Dunklin County Sheriff's Office deputies and Kennett Police Department officers all investigate the New Year's Eve incident, Kennett Police Dept. Chief Kenny Wilson says.

The alleged murderer is incarcerated without bond at the Dunklin County Jail at Kennett, according to court documents.