Second KC Chiefs Super Bowl rally shooting case ends with dropped murder charge
Terry Young, one of three men charged with murder following the mass shooting at the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally that left one woman dead, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was handed a two-year prison sentence Friday.
Because of time Young has already served while awaiting trial, he could be released from custody soon. Young’s attorney, Linda Mock, told Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Michelle Cocayne that her client would receive credit for 757 days he has served in the Jackson County Detention Center.
Under a plea agreement, prosecutors backed away from one count of second-degree felony murder and two counts of armed criminal action as Young pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful use of a weapon Friday. Cocayne accepted Young’s plea and handed down the two-year prison sentence the sides had recommended.
Police alleged that Young and two groups fired shots at each other amidst the crowd at the rally event near Union Station in February 2024. The shots sent the people scrambling for cover, and many were injured. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a beloved mother, wife, sister and local DJ, was shot and killed.
Court documents filed in Young’s case earlier this month indicated he was arguing he had acted in self-defense.
In a statement released by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office following the hearing, Lopez-Galvan’s family said they were disappointed in the outcome of Young’s case.
“As this case comes to a close, we are reminded that no court outcome can truly measure what was taken from us,” the statement said. “We hope our community remembers that behind every headline is a family whose lives have been forever changed. We ask that people continue to honor Lisa not only by remembering her, but by choosing faith, kindness, unity, and care for one another, the same values Lisa lived every day.”
In a statement, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson indicated the state’s self-defense and defense-of-others laws restricted her office’s ability to prosecute the case.
“We strongly agree with the Lopez-Galvan family that the greatest justice would be having Lisa back and home with her family,” Johnson said. “While we are not satisfied with today’s outcome and share in the disappointment expressed by Lisa’s family, our duty requires us to continually evaluate each case under the constraints of existing law to determine a resolution commensurate with each defendant’s conduct.”
Young’s plea mirrors one made by Dominic Miller, who was also facing a murder charge related to the shooting, last month. Miller pleaded guilty to the same charge, one count of unlawful use of a weapon, and was sentenced to two years in prison, with credit for time served, on March 9.
Karen Pojmann, a spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said it appeared Miller was in state custody for a little more than four hours before his release on March 13. Miller had 753 days of credit time, she said.
A case against a third man, Lyndell Mays, is scheduled to go to trial in March 2027. Mays faces a second-degree murder charge and an additional charge of causing catastrophe.
Said Johnson: “There is still one more case ahead, and this office will continue to pursue justice within the bounds of the law. As we move forward, we ask our community to stand with us in honoring Lisa and supporting her children and family.”
Mock did not speak on Young’s behalf during Friday’s hearing, and Young spoke only briefly in answering questions from Mock and Cocayne. At one point, he acknowledged the unlawful use of a weapon charge he pleaded guilty to and agreed that he had been armed with a gun and presented it in an “angry or threatening manner.”
Lopez-Galvan’s daughter, Adriana Galvan, and sister, Carmen Lopez Murguia, spoke during Friday’s hearing, relating the pain they felt as a mother, sister, wife and friend had been lost, and noting the broader pain felt by the Kansas City community.
“Losing my mother that day was the worst thing that could ever happen to me and my family,” Adriana Galvan said.
Said Lopez Murguia: “I hope and pray that Terry Young and others understand that their actions and the actions of others that day had consequences far beyond a single moment, a single choice.”
“Today’s hearing may end, but for my family, there is no end,” she said. “We will spend the rest of our lives carrying the absence of my sister, Lisa.”
This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 3:46 PM.
