Second suspect charged in fatal shooting of man in Independence hotel room
A second suspect has been charged with second-degree murder in the Monday morning shooting death of a man inside an Independence hotel room.
Tyler Russell, 29, of Lee’s Summit, was also charged with robbery and armed criminal action in the death of Tomas Galvan, who was found shot at the Executive Inn and Suites at 15014 E. U.S. 40 Highway.
When officers arrived, they opened the partially cracked hotel-room door and found Galvan lying in blood behind it. He was taken to an area hospital, where he died, police said.
Earlier Wednesday, prosecutors announced they also charged Steven Decker, 26, of Independence, in Galvan’s killing.
A witness told police that Galvan had called two men to give him a ride. They were hanging out in the hotel room and began arguing over a stolen air compressor, according to charging documents.
At one point, the men drew firearms. One shot Galvan in the head as he tried to grab the gun, police said. They then fled the scene with Galvan’s items, according to court documents.
Surveillance video captured by the hotel showed the two men leaving in a vehicle that belonged to Decker, police said. Decker picked up his 6-year-old son from school later Monday, where a school official told police that Decker appeared to be crying and had overheard him say he was “going to prison for 25 years,” according to prosecutors.
Neither suspect had an attorney listed in court records who could be reached for comment as of Wednesday.
Galvan’s killing marked Independence’s second homicide this year. Independence totaled 11 killings in all of 2020 and 10 in 2019, according to data maintained by The Star.
The Star’s Cortlynn Stark and Bill Lukitsch contributed to this report.
Gun violence is the subject of a 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.
