A 64-year-old Kansas man, Jon K. Ewing, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal abduction and murder of his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Ann Stephens, in 2021. Shawnee County District Court Judge Brett A. Watson handed down the life sentence on Friday, as Ewing was convicted of first-degree felony murder and second-degree reckless murder.
The grisly details of the crime were revealed in court documents. Authorities reported that Stephens’ remains were discovered in a trailer, with large portions of flesh missing from her face, and dogs seen eating parts of her body.
Ewing was immediately detained at the scene and later convicted of other felony charges, including aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, criminal threat of violence, and interfering with law enforcement evidence. In addition to his life sentence, he will serve an additional 344 months (over 28 years) for these other offenses, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
The tragic events unfolded on April 27, 2021, when emergency medical personnel and deputies responded to a call about an unresponsive adult female at a mobile home lot in Topeka. Upon arrival, they discovered Stephens’ lifeless body inside a trailer, where she appeared to have suffered blunt-force trauma to her face, torso, and arms.
Ewing, identified as Stephens’ ex-partner, was already at the scene and was detained by deputies. Court documents and security footage from Stephens’ home revealed the horrifying sequence of events. The footage showed Ewing ambushing Stephens, dragging her by her hair toward the trailer, and then using an axe to deliver multiple blows to her head.
As he attacked her, Ewing was heard threatening, “I will kill you.” The couple’s past was marked by domestic violence, with police called to their residence 44 times between April 2020 and April 2021. Just two days before the murder, Ewing had been arrested on drug-related charges, and during his time in custody, he allegedly told a fellow detainee that he would kill Stephens and “cut her head clean off” upon his release.
Ewing’s conviction and life sentence bring an end to a tragic chapter in the life of a young woman who, despite her efforts to escape, fell victim to her abuser’s violence.