Mission teen’s shooting death detailed by prosecutors in newly released court records
A Mission teenager found shot to death in front of a Prairie Village Montessori school last month was killed in a drug deal gone wrong, prosecutors allege in newly released court documents.
Records released Friday outline the police investigation after a jogger found Kiven Maquial’s body on May 5.
The criminal affidavit was written by Prairie Village police in support of the arrest of 35-year-old Jesse Monreal who was charged in Johnson County District Court with murder and attempted robbery in the case. The document also details the alleged actions of two 17-year-old boys and a 16-year-old girl who were each charged in juvenile court with first degree felony murder and robbery in connection to Maquial’s death.
According to the court document one teen shot in the air and another shot multiple rounds as Maquial ran away. Monreal and a teen who had set up the drug deal were in the car.
In Kansas, a person can be charged with first-degree felony murder even if they did not pull the trigger in a shooting. They can be charged if a homicide occurs during the commission of an inherently dangerous felony.
Carl Cornwell, the defense attorney representing the 16-year-old girl charged, said cases like this among teens are becoming more and more common. He said he has represented other teens in such cases and is hoping to keep his client’s case in juvenile court despite motions from prosecutors to move it to adult court.
“For some reason there’s a certain segment of the young population that thinks that’s a cool thing to do. Set something up and then rip someone off,” he said. “There’s no reason that kid should have been shot.”
The attorneys for the other defendants did not immediately respond to The Star’s requests for comment.
The Star is not naming the teens involved because they are being charged in juvenile court.
How the deal ‘went bad’
After Maquial’s body was found, a witness told police the teen had been staying with his family for about two months and was known to sell drugs and to “rip people off.” The night of the shooting, the witness said, Maquial had indicated he was planning a drug deal with a white woman.
According to the affidavit Prairie Village police connected the shooting to Monreal and the three teens after locating a car that was seen on surveillance video leaving the area around the time of the shooting.
The cars owner said she had rented her car to one of the teens for $20 and he had had it for the entire night on May 4 — the night of the shooting. The owner also told police that Monreal and the teens may have been involved and that the guns used in the shooting were confiscated by Overland Park police at a party days later, the affidavit said.
The guns, which Prairie Village police received from Overland Park police, matched the shell casings found at the scene.
Police said in the affidavit that they spoke to a girl close to the teens who said she had spoken with one of them after the shooting. One of the teens, she said, told her he was in the car with Monreal and the others who were charged. He said things “went bad.”
She said she believed that the 16-year-old girl who was ultimately charged had set up the drug deal and that one of the 17-year-old boys planned to rob Maquial.
The 16-year-old girl who was charged told police she was with the other teens who were charged but denied any knowledge of the shooting.
After Monreal was arrested in Missouri on May 19 he allegedly told police that the group had met with Maquial planning to get “dope” and make money.
He said Maquial walked up to the passenger side of the car but ran away when he saw someone pull a gun out. Both of the teenage boys, Monreal told police, got out of the car. According to court records, he said one shot a single shot into the air while another shot an unknown number of rounds.
Monreal said he never saw an exchange occur and a THC cartridge fell out of Maquial’s pocket when he ran off.
Surveillance video at an apartment where the teens stayed showed the group returning to the apartment around 3:15 a.m. on May 5, police said. A person who appeared to be Monreal exited the car carrying a gun.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
