Father of 3-year-old killed in 2017 is accused of shooting person of interest in case
The father of a 3-year-old boy killed in 2017 has been accused of shooting two people, including a man described as a person of interest in the child’s death.
Marcus Donnell Haislip Jr., 23, is accused of shooting two men Nov. 29 in a double shooting at the Xpress Mart Shell at 37th Street and Broadway.
He’s been charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with two counts of first-degree assault, unlawful possession of a weapon and armed criminal action.
On Wednesday, federal authorities said they along with the Kansas City Police Department had presented a criminal case file to Jackson County prosecutors that identified a man wounded in the gas station as a person of interest in the boy’s killing.
“The person of interest was and is also the person that Haislip shot two weeks ago,” said John Ham, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“It would seem an improbable coincidence,” if the two shootings were not related, he said.
Ham said the prosecutor’s office was reviewing the 2017 homicide to determine whether charges should be filed.
Two shootings
In May 2017, 3-year-old Marcus Haislip III was killed and his father and another relative were wounded when shots were fired into their car at 54th Street and Park Avenue.
A volley of at least 10 gunshots shattered the car windows and pierced the car’s interior. Bullets struck Marcus in the head, neck and elsewhere.
No criminal charges have been filed since the 2017 killing.
More than two years later, on Nov. 29, police found two people wounded inside the Xpress Mart gas station. One said he was working security at the business when a person entered the doorway firing a gun. Once the shooter saw the security guard, he shot him too, according to court records.
Detectives recovered seven spent 9mm shell casings and multiple spent bullets and bullet fragments.
The customer who was shot said he did not see the shooter and did not know how many shots were fired. The man said he did not want to cooperate and said he was an accidental target.
Surveillance video obtained by investigators allegedly showed Haislip walk into the gas station, open fire and run away immediately afterward.
A detective reviewed the surveillance video and noticed the left-handed gunman resembled Haislip. The detective said he recognized Haislip from prior police investigations and contacts, according to court records.
One of the victims from the gas station shooting later identified Haislip as the shooter.
Investigators learned the SUV Haislip allegedly was driving at the time of the shooting had been purchased by a relative on that same day. Detectives also traced Haislip’s cellphone to an area near the gas station prior to the shooting, according to court records.
Haislip arrested
Police arrested Haislip Monday. A photo of him taken during the shooting was featured on a new Kansas City police website Busted that seeks to identified criminal suspects.
Haislip has denied any involvement in the gas station shooting, according to court records.
Haislip was charged earlier this month with resisting arrest, domestic assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Court documents showed that Haislip pleaded guilty in July 2018 to unlawful use of a weapon.
He is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $75,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 23.
This story was originally published December 19, 2019 at 12:17 PM.
