Long-simmering neighbor feud led to fatal shooting in KC’s Northland: ‘Hostage for years’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Neighbors praised Chris Wells as helpful, family man and reliable community member.
- Jeffrey Traviss King faces first-degree murder charge and remains jailed.
- Neighbors report long pattern of harassment, parking disputes and probation breaches.
On a quiet street in Kansas City’s Northland, police and Clay County prosecutors say a long-simmering dispute turned deadly Monday, leaving one man dead, another man charged with his murder and an entire neighborhood in shock.
The victim, identified by Kansas City police Tuesday as 41-year-old Chris Wells, was a man who multiple residents describe as the type of neighbor everyone wished they had, someone who was always willing to lend a hand.
“You could ask him anything, and he’d be willing to help,” Michael Galleti said of the victim. “As good a neighbor that you could’ve asked for.”
Galleti was one of several neighbors who spoke to The Star on Tuesday, following Wells’ death on Monday, after he was shot and killed in the street of the well-groomed Northland neighborhood, bordering Gladstone.
The road, lined with two-story homes on each side, slopes down a gradual hill. Most of the homes are fitted with two-car garages, well-kept lawns and landscaping. Tall wooden decks are seen affixed to the back of many homes. A few neighbors display “do not disturb” and “no soliciting” signs. On both sides of the street, the sidewalk is a smooth, light gray that had not yet had time to develop rivets anywhere other than where contractors intended.
Jeffrey Traviss King, who also lives in the neighborhood, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the shooting. He is currently being held on a $5 million bond.
According to records from the Missouri Secretary of State, King operates a business called Fidelis Firearms, LC. It is unclear from online records whether he sells firearms, offers gun classes, or provides other goods or services. He created Fidelis Firearms, LLC in June 2023 to offer education and entertainment in the weapon business, according to online records.
Neighbors told The Star that King was on probation following a dispute with Wells where he had broken the mirror off his vehicle.
Court records show that King was found guilty at trial for property damage and received two years of probation and a 30-day suspended sentence. King was also ordered to stay away from the Wells’ home.
Galleti said that King had violated that protection order and there was set to be at a probation meeting in the coming days.
But on Monday, King is accused of throwing a blanket into Wells’s yard, while he was at work. Wells’ wife told investigators that she called her husband to notify him of the interaction. Wells then came home from work to confront him, and a fight broke out, the woman told police.
During the fight, that’s when she heard gunshots ring out.
Neighborhood held hostage
Multiple neighbors described King as having caused issues in the neighborhood for as long as many could remember. They say King would frequently park multiple vehicles along the street, to the point where school buses could not drive through.
After signs were posted on one side of the street to not allow parking by the city, neighbors say King would park them throughout the neighborhood, sometimes even blocking mailboxes.
A television news story from KCTV from last summer featured King saying his cars were illegally towed from the neighborhood by the city.
Neighbors say that King seemed to try and antagonize his neighbors, playing music at loud volumes, shining spotlights from his property at their houses, even hanging flags on his property with things such as pictures of Jeffrey Epstein with the words, “This flag didn’t hang itself.”
Multiple neighbors expressed fear of speaking about King, worried of what he might do to them if he were to get out of custody on bond.
One neighbor, who wished to remain nameless, said that King was warned about parking his motorcycle in his front yard, so he then proceeded to move everything from his backyard into his front yard.
In King’s front yard Tuesday sat a disheveled collection of lawn chairs, boxes and containers. A pile of wood about six feet tall was stacked on a rack that leaned against a tree on the north side of the lawn. A mattress with a hole burned into it was pinned to the front of a camper. Next to it sat a pontoon boat and a basketball goal.
Across the street, flowers sat against a light pole in remembrance of Wells. A few feet away, the road was marred with blood stains.
A neighbor who lives a few houses down from where the shooting happened Monday morning spoke to The Star, but said she did not want to give her name for fear of her safety.
She said her grandson was at the house when she heard loud pops, but didn’t immediately recognize it as gunfire.
“My husband said he heard the shots and saw (Wells’ wife) screaming and falling in her yard, saying, ‘Oh, my God. Oh my god, I can’t do this alone,’ meaning, I guess, raise her children,’” the neighbor said.
The neighbor said Wells was a father to four children. She described him as a nice guy and said he once offered to help her clean up after she had a garage sale.
The morning of the shooting, the neighbor’s husband told her he saw a blue Ford Mustang speed off from the driveway of a home nearby. After the shooting, the neighbor’s grandson told her he saw King standing near Wells lying on the ground.
“We’re not surprised. I can actually say we’re not surprised,” the neighbor said about the shooting. “He was crazy. He’s held this whole neighborhood hostage for years.”
The neighbor said the Maplewood Estates homeowner’s association put new rules up to a vote to curb King’s provocative behavior, but residents voted down the rules for fear of them being too strict for the rest of the neighborhood.
This story was originally published January 13, 2026 at 4:48 PM.
