KC man pleads guilty in 2014 drive-by killing of 6-year-old Angel Hooper

A 23-year-old Kansas City man has pleaded guilty to murder in the 2014 drive-by shooting death of a 6-year-old girl outside a convenience store on Blue Ridge Boulevard.

Leandre Smith, one of two men charged in the shooting, pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Jackson County Circuit Court to second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Smith and another man were accused of carrying out the shooting that killed Angel Hooper as she and her father left the 7-Eleven at 10615 Blue Ridge Blvd. on Oct. 17, 2014. Someone in a passing car fired multiple gunshots toward the store. Angel was the only person hit. The killing outraged the community.

The sentence imposed on Smith included 23 years for murder, 15 years for the weapons crime and 10 years each for the armed criminal action counts. The judge set the sentences to run concurrently. Smith will be required to serve at least 85 percent of the time in prison.

Also charged in the case is Howard Chase IV, 21. He is scheduled for trial on March 27.

This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 12:59 PM with the headline "KC man pleads guilty in 2014 drive-by killing of 6-year-old Angel Hooper."