Prosecutors charge teen with manslaughter in shooting of 18-year-old in Lee’s Summit home
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Jackson County prosecutors charged an 18-year old with involuntary manslaughter in a Lee’s Summit shooting in May that left another teen dead.
Cooper D. Ashley, of Lee’s Summit, is accused of one felony in the killing of 18-year-old Dakota Wrightsman. Court records show Ashley was booked in the Jackson County jail Wednesday and was later released after posting $5,000 toward his $50,000 bond.
A defense attorney for Ashley did not immediately reply to The Star’s request for comment.
On May 13, Lee’s Summit police officers responded to a residence in the 2300 block of Southeast King Street. Inside the house the officers found Wrightsman dead of a gunshot wound and blood near his head and neck area, according to charging documents.
On the ground of a lower-level floor was a .45-caliber Glock handgun.
According to court documents, Wrightsman’s father told police he was outside when he heard one gunshot. He told them his son had been in the basement with two other people.
Detectives interviewed Ashley on scene. Court documents state he told them he had recently used marijuana when he picked up a handgun from the ground as Wrightsman was seated in a bean bag chair. Then, a round went off.
One witness who was in the basement at the time said he was carrying the gun in the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt when he and another were “engaged in playful wrestling” over a bean bag chair. The gun came out of his pocket, he told police, and then he heard a gunshot and saw Ashley holding it.
Another witness said Ashley reacted to the shooting by saying “What did I do?” and “I thought it was my airsoft gun,” according to court documents.
Other witnesses interviewed by detectives said Ashley was known to carry a replica Glock pellet gun and would sometimes “horseplay” by pointing it at himself or others.
Under Missouri law, first-degree manslaughter is a Class C felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison plus a $10,000 fine.
Ashley is scheduled to appear June 20 in Jackson County Circuit Court for an arraignment hearing.
This story was originally published June 8, 2023 at 5:42 PM.
