Kansas City man sentenced to life in prison for shooting on Overland Park playground
A Kansas City man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday, more than a year after he pleaded guilty to a host of charges, including first degree murder for allegedly shooting one coworker and injuring another outside an Overland Park elementary school in 2018.
Anthony Grable, 34, will not be eligible for parole for at least 50 years, according to a news release from the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office. He pleaded guilty in Johnson County District Court last year to first-degree murder, attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated robbery and burglary.
He was accused of shooting his fellow landscapers on the playground of Sunrise Point Elementary School, killing 48-year-old Todd Davis and critically injuring 54-year-old Efren Gomez before fleeing the school and stealing several vehicles at gunpoint.
“(Grable) took one man’s life and basically made another person a quadriplegic for the rest of his life in addition to committing a serious of robberies,” Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said in an interview. “I think the judge was really justified in giving him the hard 50.”
Grable’s attorney, Johnson County Public Defender Michael McCulloch, did not immediately respond to The Star’s request for comment.
Synlawn, also known as Turf Etc., employed the men, who were installing synthetic turf at the school’s playground near 158th Street and Roe Avenue. Witnesses told police that Grable got into an argument with another person over tools and returned to the work area 20 minutes later, pulled a pistol from his backpack and fired several shots, according to court documents.
One person told detectives that when he asked Grable to complete a specific job, he “became defensive” and told the person “not to tell him what to do,” according to an affidavit. Another witness told detectives he dropped to the ground in fear and “belly crawled a short distance before getting to his feet” to run into nearby houses. No children were present during the shooting, authorities said.
Eight .40-caliber shell casings were found at the elementary school, according to the affidavit.
After the shooting, Grable allegedly fled the scene and led police on a chase as he made several carjacking attempts at gunpoint, beginning at a car wash on 151st and Metcalf Avenue. A carjacking at gunpoint was later reported several blocks away.
Police said they arrested Grable at the home of the owner of an SUV he stole in south Overland Park. When he was taken into custody, police found a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson semi-automatic pistol in Grable’s backpack along with clothes and other belongings from the residence, according to the affidavit.
Mental evaluation
In a motion filed Tuesday, Grable’s attorney asked the judge to make parole possible in 25 years rather than 50 as was presumed in Kansas sentencing guidelines.
The attorney, McCulloch, said that a psychological evaluation proved that Grable’s actions were a result of mental illness and paranoia that developed in the time leading up to the shooting.
Grable, the motion said, had become “irrational and paranoid” and “was convinced that people were following him, watching him, and were going to attempt to take his life.”
This paranoia, McCulloch said, developed after Grable changed medications to treat his mood disorder in February 2018. Absent the mental illness, he argued, Grable would not have committed the acts that led to his criminal charges.
Howe, the District Attorney, said that there was no indication from Grable’s mental evaluation that he “did not have the needed intent” to commit the crimes he was charged with.
“There was no evidence that his mental illness was such that it prevented him from knowing between right and wrong,” Howe said. “Clearly he had some mental health issues but really it was more driven by his anger towards his coworkers that caused these violent acts.”
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 5:01 PM.
