Grandview man accused of punching, pistol-whipping and fatally shooting KC woman
A Grandview man has been charged with murder in the July fatal shooting of a Kansas City woman, Jackson County prosecutors announced Monday.
Michael Skinner, 22, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of Chieyenne Wallis, who was found July 24 suffering from gunshot wounds at the Cloverleaf Apartments off Interstate 49 near Missouri 150 highway.
Witnesses told detectives Skinner and Wallis became involved in a fight that quickly escalated. Skinner began pointing handguns at Wallis, asking which one she wanted him to kill her with, according to police.
Wallis tried to get away from Skinner by hiding in a bedroom that children were in. Skinner kept telling the kids and relatives there to get out of the way because the fight did not concern them and he was “going to kill Wallis,” a detective wrote in charging documents released Monday.
Skinner then punched and pistol-whipped Wallis, according to the court records. He stomped on her head while she was on the ground before allowing her to get to her feet, police said.
Wallis ran to a window and started to open it to jump out, one witness told detectives. Skinner told her he was only going to start shooting once she hit the ground, police alleged. Wallis gave up on trying to jump and ran out of the apartment; Skinner chased her, according to a probable cause statement.
A witness told police she saw Skinner shoot Wallis several times outside. He then went inside the building and came back out accompanied by two men. As they walked toward a car, Skinner looked at Wallis, who was face down on the ground, walked up to her and shot her again at close range, according to prosecutors.
At the homicide scene that day, Det. Kevin Boehm said there had been four other killings at the apartment in the past 12 to 16 months. Police were working with management to address the issues, he said.
Each witness listed in the criminal complaint picked Skinner out of a photo lineup, police said.
Prosecutors requested Skinner’s bond be set at $500,000 cash. He did not have an attorney listed in court records Monday who could be reached for comment.
During a news conference Monday before the charges were announced, Wallis’ parents recalled how her smile lit up a room. She left behind two young children. Each time there is a knock on the door now, one thinks it’s their mother.
“Chieyenne was the life of the party,” her mother, Chantell Wallis, told reporters at the news conference, which was held by the Kansas City Police Department to better illustrate the toll violent crime has on victims and their relatives.
Chantell Wallis called for better conflict resolution and expressed her gratitude to detectives for bringing some closure to her family. She said of the allegations against Skinner: “He dimmed our light when he did that.”
“Guns are not the answer; you’re taking people’s loved ones away,” she said. “I lost my daughter to something senseless.”
Wallis was one of 127 people killed in homicides so far this year in Kansas City, according to data maintained by The Star, which includes police shootings. There had been 91 killings by this time last year, which ended with 153 homicides.
Kansas City’s deadliest year was 2017, when 155 people were slain, according to The Star’s data. There had been 98 homicides reported by this time that year.
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.
