Two men meet for drug sale; buyer ends up killing the seller, court docs say

Jackson County prosecutors have charged a 21-year-old man in the shooting death of another man over a drug deal that had gone bad.

Malik S. Chapple of Kansas City faces second-degree murder, robbery, endangering the welfare of a child and armed criminal action charges in the slaying of Travis Mills, 25.

The shooting happened Monday outside a south Kansas City apartment complex in the 1500 block of East 97th Street.

Prosecutors requested a $100,000 cash bond.

According to court records, a woman arranged for Mills to sell Chapple about $750 worth of marijuana. Mills had recently purchased the drugs from Colorado. The woman and Chapple agreed to meet in the parking lot of the apartment complex. Chapple arrived there with another man and a child in the back seat of his car; Mills arrived with the woman who arranged the deal.

After parking his car, Chapple got into the back seat of Mills’ car. Chapple said he wanted to weigh the weed and went back to his car. He returned moments later armed with a handgun.

A passenger in Chapple’s car got out and walked up to the driver’s side of Mills’ car. Mills and the passenger began to fight. During the struggle, Chapple shot Mills, court documents say.

Chapple then pointed the gun at the woman and demanded she give him the weed. After taking the weed, Chapple and his passenger sped away. Mills was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

Investigators tracked Chapple’s cellphone number through a computer search. The witness identified Chapple as the man who shot Mills, according to court records.

This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Two men meet for drug sale; buyer ends up killing the seller, court docs say."