913

Crime

Man charged in murder of mother of five in Merriam

Jason Munjak

Jason Munjak

The Kansas City Star

The Johnson County district attorney charged Jason Munjak on Friday with first-degree murder in the death of Toby Rock.

Rock, 37, of Topeka, was found dead last week in a Merriam motel. Rock was the mother of five children ranging in age from 8 to 22 years. She was killed Jan. 19, but not discovered until Jan. 20, when a cleaning crew found her body at the Homestead Studio Suites on Frontage Road.

The victim’s mother, Kathy Bowman, said her daughter had a meth addiction. Police have not publicly discussed a motive or a cause of death in the homicide.

Bowman said the room was rented by another woman and someone drove her daughter there and dropped her off on the night before her body was found.

I think there is a lot more that is going to come out,” Bowman said.

Munjak, 36, broke parole in Wyandotte County last November, according to prison records. He has two convictions for possession of opiates, narcotics or other drugs.

Munjak was being held in the Johnson County jail. Bond was set at $1 million.

Authorities said a second man was also arrested this week for questioning in the case. As of Friday, he was not charged in connection with the homicide, but he was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury for unlawful possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. He was convicted in 2008 and 2009 of fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer.

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