Teen to stand trial as adult in fatal shooting of 48-year-old Kansas City man last year
A 17-year-old will stand trial as an adult in the September fatal shooting of a 48-year-old man in Kansas City, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced.
Marlando Martin-Hoskins has been charged with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action in the killing of Maurice Brown on Sept. 26 near East 30th Street and Montgall Avenue.
Martin-Hoskins was recently certified in Family Court to stand trial as an adult, according to the prosecutor’s office.
According to court documents, a witness told police she was walking south on Prospect Avenue when she saw a car go the wrong way on 30th Street from Wabash Avenue. She said the car stopped and teen boy in a gray sweatsuit got out armed with a “long gun.”
The teen looked south and then got back into the car, which then turned onto Prospect, she told police. The person who had gotten out fired one shot towards an apartment building, according to court documents.
As the witness headed east on 30th, she saw the victim running. She told police that he had been shot.
Police obtained surveillance video from area business and were able to identify the vehicle. Police stopped the car the next day and took three people into custody. In their interviews, they indicated the suspect in the shooting was in the vehicle and shot an AR-15 style rifle. He went by the name of “Lando,” according to court documents.
Martin-Hoskins was taken into custody on Oct. 18. With his mother present, he allegedly told police that he had gone with others to Popeyes’ restaurant at 31st Street and Prospect. While there, an unknown man walked out and “started to talk at them in an aggressive manner.”
The man then walked across the street to the library. Martin-Hoskins said he called to the man to determine who he was. The man told him to walk away. The man then allegedly pulled a taser and started cocking a gun in his waistband.
Martin-Hoskins told police he and his group walked to their car and left. About a block away, they stopped and Martin-Hoskins said he got out armed with a rifle to check to see if they were being followed. When he didn’t see the man, he got back in.
As they started to drive away, others in the car saw the man. Martin-Hoskins said the man was walking up Prospect behind parked cars, holding a gun.
Martin-Hoskins allegedly told police that he decided to shoot the man before the man could shoot him.
A police detective noted in the court document that “video and physical evidence at the scene are not consistent with the statement” that Martin-Hoskins provided.
