Unique shoes, surveillance footage help lead police to suspected Grandview killer

Surveillance video and dark shoes that had a “very pronounced line across the heel wrapping around the laces” helped lead detectives to a suspect in a fatal Grandview shooting on Monday.

The Jackson County prosecutor on Wednesday charged Gregory E. Smith, 24, of Grandview with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the slaying of Dennis M. Gordon Jr., also of Grandview.

According to court documents, Grandview police responded about 12:49 p.m. Monday to the intersection of White Avenue and High Grove Road on reports of a shooting.

Arriving officers found a witness holding an unconscious Gordon in the street. The witness told police that a man in a green sedan had shot Gordon. Gordon died from his gunshot wound at the scene.

According to court documents, during an interview with police, the witness said that he and Gordon were headed to a gas station when a “dude” pulled up and shot Gordon. The witness said the “dude” was a man that Gordon had been in a fight with at a 7-Eleven convenience store a couple of weeks ago.

Detectives pulled a police report that indicated officers responded to the 7-Eleven regarding a fight in process on July 29. The report allegedly indicated that Gordon, the witness, Smith and another man were at the convenience store.

The witness allegedly identified Smith in a photo lineup as the driver of the green sedan. The witness also described a passenger.

Surveillance video recovered from Discount Smokes and Liquor, which is near where Gordon was shot, showed a dark-colored sedan pull into the parking lot about 12:44 p.m. Monday.

The driver, who was wearing a T-shirt with a blue number “15” written on the front, bought something with change. The driver also was wearing dark shoes with a distinctive line across the heel. The driver then went back to the car and pulled out of the parking lot about 12:47 p.m.

Police later compared the video footage to police dash cam footage from the incident at the 7-Eleven on July 29 and determined that the driver allegedly appeared to be Smith.

Additional surveillance footage showed a dark-colored sedan driving north on White about 12:47 p.m. Shortly thereafter, Gordon and the witness to the shooting can be seen walking south on White. Once they leave the frame of the video, the sedan is then seen driving south on White and then east on High Grove.

After finding a green Kia sedan at Smith’s residence, police obtained a search warrant for the house. Inside, police found Smith, who exited the residence and was arrested. He was wearing black shoes with multi-colored Nike symbols and straps that “when combined appear to be the line wrapping around the shoe,” according to court documents.

Also inside the house was a woman who said she owns the sedan and that Smith and another person allegedly had taken the car just after noon and returned about an hour later.

During the search of the house, police found a gray T-shirt with the number “15” written on it as well as a handgun. A second handgun that was in an uninvolved vehicle was surrendered to police, too.

This story was originally published August 9, 2018 at 9:47 AM.