She had an order of protection against him. It was in her pocket when she was killed
KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Tabitha Birdsong had an order of protection folded in her back pocket when she was found dead Tuesday near Roanoke Park in Kansas City.
The man named on the order, Gene A. Birdsong, is charged with killing her.
Jackson County prosecutors on Thursday charged 42-year-old Gene Birdsong of Kansas City, Kan., with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
Tabitha Birdsong, 40, was found dead near 36th Street and Madison Avenue.
She had suffered "obvious head injuries," according to court documents, and her death was ruled a homicide.
In her pocket, detectives found a court order of protection she had sought against Gene Birdsong.
The two were married in 2009, according to Johnson County court records, and have a daughter born in 2013.
Family and friends interviewed by investigators after the homicide said there was a history of physical abuse in the relationship between the two.
According to Johnson County court records, Gene Birdsong was convicted in 2009 and 2010 of domestic battery against Tabitha Birdsong.
In 2015, she filed a protection order request in Johnson County in which she said she was "terrified" for her safety.
In 2016, Gene Birdsong was charged in Johnson County with violating a protection order Tabitha Birdsong had obtained in Wyandotte County. He spent 86 days in jail earlier this year after violating his probation in that case and was released from custody in June.
_The Kansas City Star
