Prosecutor: 17-year-old charged with murder in shooting deaths of 2 Kansas City teens
Jackson County prosecutors on Friday charged a 17-year-old as an adult in the March fatal shootings of two teens who, loved ones said, were inseparable best friends.
Edward T. Shelton faces two charges of second-degree murder and two charges of armed criminal action in the March 20 deaths of Dominique Nelson and Dominik Simmons, both 15, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
That day, gunfire broke out near East 73rd Street and Norton Avenue during an argument outside that involved “two small groups of people” who immediately fled in different directions, Capt. David Jackson, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, said at the time.
Police first found Dominique, who died at the scene. But family and friends worried there was possibly another victim in the area.
Police deployed drones while officers searched with flashlights. Relatives and police continued to search the neighborhood the next day. Dominik was found dead about 1 p.m. behind a vacant house about a block south of the shooting scene.
The 15-year-olds had lived a couple of blocks apart and had been friends since they were 8.
Shelton was arrested on Sept. 29, according to charging documents. At the time, authorities said a 17-year-old as well as a 15-year-old were charged in the shootings, but their names were not released then because of their ages.
Prosecutors asked for a $200,000 cash bond for Shelton.
This story was originally published December 24, 2021 at 12:10 PM.
