Kansas City man gets 35 years in fatal Independence shooting, prosecutors say
A 21-year-old Kansas City man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for a home invasion and shooting that left one woman dead and another man critically wounded three years ago.
David A. Harris was sentenced Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court on convictions of second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and first-degree assault, prosecutors said. Harris was found guilty by a Jackson County jury in July.
The shooting happened shortly before 4 a.m. on Sept. 18, 2018 in the 1100 block of Quail Creek drive in Independence. Officers were called there to The Cedars apartments and townhomes on a report of gunshots fired, and found 20-year-old Mary K. Schmitz dead on scene with multiple gunshot wounds, according to court records.
Roughly two hours later police were called about a suspicious man near 39th and Marshall Drive who was knocking on doors and demanding to use telephones. Harris was picked up nearby by police and taken in for questioning.
Another man who knew Harris told police that he saw Harris with a gun about 1 a.m. and that Harris threatened that he was going to go to the apartment where the victims were and shoot the male victim, court records say.
Witnesses later told police the shooting may have been related to a relationship involving Schmitz.
Police took Harris into custody roughly two hours after the shooting, court records show. He initially denied being at the apartment but later told detectives he used the backdoor to get inside the house.
He went into the bedroom where one victim was sleeping and started to fight him, according to court records. Harris then took the gun out and shot him.
At that point, the critically shot man pulled Schmitz between them and Harris fatally shot her, court records say.
The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton contributed to this report.
