KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City woman has been charged with beating a man to death with a hammer, then setting fire to the home, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced Monday.

Dianna A. Brown faces charges of second-degree murder, armed criminal action, second-degree arson and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution.

According to court records, the Kansas City Fire Department was dispatched to a fire at an apartment building near Kensington Avenue and Independence Avenue on Sept. 19. After extinguishing the flames, firefighters found a dead man with severe burns, apparent head trauma and signs of decomposition.

The medical examiner determined the victim's cause of death as blunt force trauma of the head and the manner of death as homicide.

On Sept. 27, Bro

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