Thai Spice worker charged with fatally shooting cousin inside Independence restaurant
A restaurant worker has been charged with shooting and killing his cousin, another employee, while working Saturday night inside the kitchen of a Thai food eatery in Independence, prosecutors said.
Porntrep Phonjaroen, 25, of Lee’s Summit, was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of 23-year-old Wasinee Sankra, of Blue Springs, according to court documents.
Officers were called to investigate the shooting about 7:20 p.m. at Thai Spice in the 18900 block of East Valley View Parkway, located in a shopping center near U.S. 40. The restaurant was open and had customers at the time of the shooting, police said.
One patron was eating with other people near the kitchen doorway when she heard a single gunshot and saw a woman fall to the ground inside the kitchen, according to a probable cause statement. They began trying to save her, but she died at the scene.
The customer repeatedly asked staff who was responsible. According to charging documents, the woman claimed an Asian man spoke up and said, “I did it!” She directed the officers to him, police said.
Investigators determined Sankra had been shot in the head, according to court records. A .380 caliber shell casing was recovered in the kitchen, where the victim’s head was surrounded by a pool of blood, police said.
Detectives were given consent to search the business and obtained the restaurant’s surveillance footage. It showed Phonjaroen take a handgun out of a bag inside the kitchen and immediately shoot Sankra without warning, according to charging documents.
Interviewed by police with the help of a Thai interpreter, Phonjaroen admitted he shot the victim, saying he was upset about her work habits, according to the probable cause statement. He fired the shot, he told detectives, in an attempt to scare her, police said.
Phonjaroen told police he threw the gun into the woods behind the business, where officers found it, court records show.
Statements were taken from multiple patrons. No other injuries were reported to police.
Phonjaroen did not yet have an attorney listed in public court records who could be reached for comment. Prosecutors requested his bond be set at $200,000 cash.
The killing marked the 10th homicide in Independence this year, according to data kept by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. By that time last year, the city had recorded 11 homicides.
The slaying was the second homicide in Independence in two days. Early Friday morning, a 34-year-old man died and another was injured in a shooting in the 10600 block of East 15th Street. No arrests have been announced in that killing.
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 10:38 AM.
