Kansas City man accused of murder in Independence drug deal gone bad: Authorities
A Kansas City man has been arrested and charged in a fatal shooting that allegedly occurred during a botched drug deal outside of an Independence gas station on New Year’s Day.
Daqunne E. Green, 28, is accused of second-degree murder, unlawful weapon use and two counts of armed criminal action, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday afternoon.
Charging documents filed in the case Friday spell out a deadly encounter between Green and 24-year-old Christopher Wright over $300-worth of fentanyl. Green was being held in the Jackson County jail on a $250,000 cash bond.
On Jan. 1, Independence police officers were dispatched to the Short Stop gas station and convenience store at 9013 East U.S. 40 Highway on a reported shooting. The call came in around 1 p.m. as the Kansas City Chiefs were playing the Denver Broncos at nearby Arrowhead Stadium.
Inside the store, responding police officers found Wright to be unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower back. First-aid was administered by officers, but Wright was pronounced dead at the scene.
Surveillance cameras reviewed by an Independence police detective showed Wright pull into a parking space for the Short Stop near a Nissan Altima that arrived a few minutes earlier. The driver of the Nissan, identified by police as Green, then got out and entered Wright’s car through the front passenger side.
Forty-five seconds later, the video shows the front passenger side window blow out amid an apparent struggle. The shooter exits the vehicle and is seen firing several rounds through the broken window as Wright puts the car in reverse.
After Wright fell out of the car, charging documents say, Green was seen on the video taking a backpack off Wright’s body before driving away in the Nissan. Wright then walked into the convenience store where police later found him.
At the crime scene, investigators reported finding six shell casings: two inside Wright’s car on the passenger floorboard and four more in the parking lot. Investigators also discovered a “large amount” of marijuana inside the car, according to court documents, along with Wright’s cell phone. Illegal drugs and some cash were on the ground.
Police allege they found a thread of texts between Wright and Green arranging drug deals through Facebook Messenger. One message dated in mid-December led detectives to a Kansas City apartment where a relative of Green lives, according to court documents.
A tip from a confidential source led Independence police to Green’s whereabouts on Tuesday at St. John Avenue and Van Brunt Boulevard near Budd Park in Kansas City’s South Indian Mound neighborhood. Green was arrested there and taken to Independence police headquarters.
During an interview with an Independence detective, Green allegedly admitted he met Wright at the Short Stop on New Year’s Day to buy fentanyl. After getting into the car, Green said Wright put a gun against his head.
Green described a fight over the gun, which went off and busted out the window on his side of the car. The gun ended up in his hands, Green said, before he got out and demanded his money back.
Green told the detective that Wright spit at him and tried to drive off. Police allege Green admitted “anger and adrenaline” then led him to fire the gun at Wright when he could have walked away instead.
Court records listed no defense attorney for Green representing him in the murder case as of Friday afternoon.
If convicted, Green faces up to 30 years for second-degree murder; up to 15 years on each count of armed criminal action; and up to 30 years for unlawful weapon use.
In the charging documents, the detective noted Green has a prior felony conviction out of Jackson County.
In that case, Green was an alleged gunman during an armed robbery at a Kansas City liquor store. He was shot by one of the store’s workers as he was walking out the front door, according to court documents.
Green pleaded guilty in 2019 to first-degree robbery. He was sentenced to five years of probation and faced the possibility of 10 years in prison if he got in trouble.
A Jackson County judge ordered a warrant for Green in October for failure to appear at a scheduled court date. Following his arrest Tuesday, a probation violation hearing in the robbery case was scheduled to take place Jan. 19.
This story was originally published January 13, 2023 at 7:26 PM.
