Olathe murder suspect appears in court

The man accused of killing an Olathe woman made his first appearance in court on Friday.

TODAY - THE MANACCUSED OF KILLING ANOLATHE WOMAN MADE HISFIRST APPEARNACEBEFORE A JUDGE.CLYDE BARNES JUNIOR ISCHARGED WITH FIRSTDEGREE MURDER OFJESSICA SMITH.SMITH WAS FOUND DEADIN HER HOME ON JULY 5TH.BARNES WILL BE BACK INCOURT JULY 15TH.BACK IN MARCH - BARNESHAD BEEN CHARGED WITHFELONY STALKINGAGAINST SMITH.A HEARING WASSCHEDULED FOR JUNE -BUT IT WAS DELAYED DUETO THE PANDEMIC.41 ACTION NEWSREPORTER JORDAN BETTSEXPLAINS HOW THEPANDEMIC IS TAKING ATOLL ON DOMESTICVIOLENCE CASES IN OURAREA.ON SUNDAY neighborsWOKE UP TO HORRIFICNEWS a mother nearby wasMURDERED.ANTHONY BLURTON // LIVESNEARBY"Just still kind of blown awayabout it.

I didn't thinknothing like that would happenin this neighborhood."Police say the victim ISJESSICA SMITH, A MOTHERA THREE.41 ACTION NEWS SPOKEWITH HER FAMILY OFFCAMERA.THEY SAY SHE WAS ASINGLE MOM and her deathWAS SENSELESS ANDINHUMANE.THE MAN ACCUSED OF HERMURDER IS CLYDE JAMESBARNES JR.41 action news discovered hewas CHARGED FORSTALKING SMITH due to anINCIDENT from March.THAT COURT DATE ISDELAYED BECAUSE OFCOVID-19.STEVE HOWE, JOHNSONCOUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY"There is a huge backlog inthe criminal justice systemright now, and it's not justherein Johnson County, but acrossthe country."STEVE HOWE, JOHNSONCOUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY"It is probably one of thebiggest challenges ever facedby our judicial system in itshistory."SAFE HOME, A DOMESTICVIOLENCE SHELTER INJOHNSON COUNTY SAYSTHEY ARE TRYING TO HELPVICTIMS WHEN IT COMESTO THESE COURT DELAYS.Heidi Wooten, CEO of SafeHome"We want to work with victimsand survivors and help themunderstand that when youdecide to leave or when youfile a legal document, thatthe most dangerous time foryou."WOOTEN SAYS when stay athome orders started to lift,they are seeing more cases ofSTALKING AND DOMESTICVIOLENCE.Heidi Wooten, CEO of SafeHome"This is an epidemic forwomen.

Stalking and domesticviolence is an epidemic forwomen."THEY WANT VICTIMS TOKNOW THEY WILL WORKTO PROTECT THEM NOMATTER WHAT.Heidi Wooten, CEO of SafeHome"We have to look at thebarriers that COVID has givento those people and how wecan make it better and how wecan work together to makesure people are safe."