Kansas City man is charged in fatal shooting of Good Samaritan at Independence gas station
A Kansas City man is accused of fatally shooting 32-year-old David J. Rowe outside an Independence gas station and convenience store on Tuesday night during a dispute one witness said began when they tried to offer him a ride.
Aaron Simmons Jr., 28, of Kansas City, was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in Rowe’s killing, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday.
Police officers were dispatched to the shooting around 11 p.m. Tuesday at the Phillips 66 Minit Mart at 4208 S. Noland Road in Independence. Rowe was found lifeless on the pavement near his Mazda SUV and pronounced dead by arriving emergency medical workers, court records state.
The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Rowe had been shot four times in the upper body. Police found four 9mm shell casings at the scene.
Detectives interviewed Rowe’s girlfriend, who said she was an eyewitness to the shooting, according to court records. She told them she and Rowe had gone to the Minit Mart to buy cigarettes but learned the business was closed.
Nearby they saw a man speaking on the phone to someone while “yelling and cussing,” she told investigators. Then Rowe drove near him to offer a ride because it was raining heavily, she said.
When they pulled in near the gas pumps, the witness told police that Simmons became angry and started threatening them because he believed they had nearly hit him. She said Rowe rolled down the window and said they wanted to give him a ride, and Simmons replied: “I’m gonna shoot you mother (expletive)!”
Rowe got out of the driver’s side and challenged the man to shoot him, the witness said. Then she heard gunshots and saw Rowe fall.
The witness told police she had looked the suspect in the eyes and would “never forget his face,” a detective wrote in charging documents.
The next day investigators were informed that an anonymous tip had come in after the suspect’s photograph, taken by area surveillance cameras, had been circulated on local newscasts. Simmons was overheard talking about the shooting to two people after Rowe was killed, the tipster said.
Police began a surveillance operation of Simmons’ Kansas City home based on the tip. He was arrested after he was seen leaving the house on Thursday.
A search warrant was granted for Simmons’ home in the 4100 block of Jackson Avenue on Thursday.
Inside the house police allegedly found a 9mm Glock handgun. A check through a national firearms database maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms determined the shell casings found at the crime scene came from the gun found at the residence, according to court records.
During an attempted police interview, Simmons allegedly declined to speak with a detective.
Court records did not list an attorney who could speak on Simmons’ behalf. Simmons was being held Friday night in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $250,000 cash-only bond.
