2 suspects in Kansas City parade shooting charged with murder, prosecutors announce
Two men have been charged with murder in the deadly shooting at last week's Kansas City Chiefs parade, prosecutors announced Tuesday. The prosecution of the two men comes after two juvenile suspects were separately charged last week in connection with the shooting that killed a woman and wounded 22 other people near Union Station shortly after the rally celebrating the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker told reporters that one of the suspects, Lyndell Mays, had an argument with another person at the rally and the argument escalated and Mays allegedly drew a handgun.
Others pulled out their guns, including the other suspect charged, Dominic Miller, Baker said. The prosecutor said evidence indicated Miller's gun was the one that allegedly killed the fatal victim, identified as Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a 43-year-old mother of two and a local radio DJ.
Miller was seen in surveillance video watching the argument from several feet away, according to court documents. He then pulled out a gun, chased after one of the people in the argument and appeared to start shooting, police said in a probable cause statement.
Lopez-Galvan was in a crowd of people in the direction where Miller was allegedly firing, according to the statement. Miller was shot in the chaos, and he appeared to trip over a cone while he was shooting and then fled the scene, according to the statement.
Miller told investigators at a hospital that a man was shooting at him and he returned fire, according to the statement. He estimated that he fired four or five shots from his 9 mm handgun but he wasn't certain if he hit the man he was firing at, according to the statement.
According to another probable cause statement, a witness told police a group of four males approached Mays and one of them asked him what he was looking at. In surveillance video, Mays started to approach the group "in an aggressive manner" and pointed at them before pulling out his gun, according to the statement.
"You can obviously see that there is, you know, some kind of verbal argument occurring and it just turns deadly," Baker said during Tuesday's news conference.
While Mays was chasing a member of the group and pointing the gun at him, the other people in the group pulled out their guns and appeared to start shooting at him, according to the statement. Mays also allegedly appeared to be shooting at the person he was chasing, according to the statement.
Mays, who was also shot in the chaos, allegedly told police he drew his gun because someone in the group said, "I'm going to get you," according to the statement.
Both Mays and Miller have been charged with second-degree murder and lesser offenses, and are being held on a $1 million bond. Mays was charged Saturday morning and the charges were sealed because the investigation was "so active and ongoing," Baker said.
The charges against Mays were unsealed Tuesday afternoon, and Miller was charged Monday night, Baker said. The investigation into the shooting remained ongoing, the prosecutor said.
"We seek to hold every shooter accountable for their actions on that day — every single one," Baker said. "So while we're not there yet on every single individual, we're going to get there."
Last week, authorities charged two juvenile suspects with gun-related and resisting-arrest offenses in the shooting. Their cases are being handled by a different office, Baker said.
Defendants aged 17 and under in Missouri are typically adjudicated through the juvenile system, which is far more private than the system for adults, according to The Associated Press. Names of the accused are not released, nor are police documents such as probable cause statements.
Lopez-Galvan's family expressed gratitude for the suspects being charged.
"Though it does not bring back our beloved Lisa, it is comforting to know that the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office and the KCPD made it a top priority to seek justice for Lisa, the other shooting victims, those who had to witness this tragedy unfold and the Kansas City community," the family said in a statement.
