Kansas City man charged with murder in young mother’s shooting at Independence apartment
A 29-year-old man is facing five felony charges, including murder, in a shooting that left a young woman dead on Wednesday in her Independence apartment.
Bobby G. Peoples III, of Kansas City, is charged with second-degree murder, unlawful weapon use, illegal firearm possession and two counts of armed criminal action, Jackson County prosecutors announced Friday afternoon. Peoples is accused in the fatal shooting of Nicolett M. Marshall, described by family as a mother of four young children.
Independence police officers were dispatched around 9:45 p.m. to the 16900 block of Larkspur Lane to reports of the sound of gunfire. Dispatchers also advised officers there was a man who was yelling that his wife had been shot, according to court documents.
Marshall was found dead on the kitchen floor when officers arrived on scene. Her husband told police the shooter was a man who had been living at the apartment temporarily, according to court documents.
Detectives were told that an argument over a firearm and a broken windshield led Peoples to visit the house alongside his girlfriend on Wednesday night around 9:30 p.m. Authorities allege there was a yelling match on the grass outside of the front of the apartment where Peoples threatened to “start shooting” if one of his firearms was not returned to him.
Then Peoples allegedly pulled out a .45 caliber handgun and started shooting into the apartment. Inside the home, Marshall’s husband told police he heard his wife say “babe” before she fell to the floor and “bled out,” according to court documents.
The husband told detectives he then grabbed a 9mm handgun and returned fire as a gold-colored sedan drove away.
Investigators reported finding seven shell casings from a 9mm and seven more from a .45 at the shooting scene.
The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that Marshall had died of a single gunshot wound to her chest. The medical examiner told detectives her wound showed no signs of soot or stippling, which are commonly found in gunshot wounds suffered from close range.
In charging documents, detectives noted Peoples had a previous felony conviction for marijuana possession that would have barred him from possessing a firearm.
Court records did not list a defense attorney for Peoples as of Friday evening. Prosecutors have requested that he be held on a $150,000 bond.
