Kansas City woman charged after allegedly shooting DoorDash driver delivering McDonald’s
A Kansas City woman was charged last week with assault after she allegedly shot the DoorDash driver who was delivering her McDonald’s order.
Marissa Lynn Leonard, born in 1996, was charged with second-degree assault and armed criminal action after she allegedly shot and injured the male driver, according to court documents.
Kansas City police responded to the shooting around 5:36 p.m. last Wednesday and found the male victim, whose age was not specified, with a gunshot wound to the back of his right calf, according to the probable cause statement.
The victim told officers he was delivering food to a residence for DoorDash. Residents met him at the door, where there was a short verbal altercation, he told police. When he walked away, he heard a gunshot and felt pain in his lower right leg, according to the probable cause statement.
Police surrounded the home and ordered the occupants to exit, believing the suspect was inside. Leonard was one of the people inside the home and allegedly told officers, without prompting, that she shot at the ground because she believed the victim was trying to force his way into the home, according to the probable cause statement.
Detectives later contacted the victim at the hospital, where he was being treated for injuries from the shooting that were not life-threatening. He told detectives that he handed the order to a woman in her 40s who was standing on the porch.
The victim said he told the woman he would need to take a photo of the food to prove it was delivered, but the woman accused him of being drunk and walked into the home, according to the probable cause statement.
After he was shot, the victim said he saw a younger woman who police identified as Leonard standing in the doorway, court records say. He told detectives she was the only person outside when he was shot.
A witness at the home told police she was in the basement when her daughter Leonard brought their DoorDash order in and claimed the delivery driver had been drunk and wouldn’t leave. Soon after, she realized police were outside the home.
Leonard’s mother told detectives she didn’t hear a gunshot or know that her daughter was armed.
Police executed a search warrant and found a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm handgun in the basement, along with an ammo can that contained live rounds and an empty magazine.
When detectives interviewed Leonard last Thursday, she allegedly told them that she received a notification that her McDonald’s order from DoorDash was close, and she went outside to find “a drunk and belligerent black male parked next door,” asking for the person who ordered the food, according to the probable cause statement.
Leonard told the driver she ordered the food and went back in the home for her mother to pick up the order. She allegedly heard the driver saying he needed to take a picture, while her mother said he didn’t need a photo and told him to leave the property as she closed the door, according to the probable cause statement.
The driver allegedly pushed against the door, making Leonard think he was trying to get into the home, she told detectives. He took a few steps back but stayed on the porch, when Leonard told him to get off the property and warned they were armed, according to the probable cause statement.
Leonard told detectives she went to her bedroom, grabbed her gun and shot a warning shot that she believed went into the ground to the right of the driver. She was about 10 or 15 feet away from the driver when she shot at him, Leonard told police.
She went inside and started eating when police arrived and ordered everyone to exit the home, according to the probable cause statement. Leonard told police she called her lawyer, who advised her to go outside with her hands up, which she did.
Leonard allegedly told police she was scared for her life and the lives of her son and mother because she had been raped by Black men and been in abusive relationships and didn’t know what the driver’s intentions were. She said she had the right to defend her home, according to the probable cause statement.
Leonard described the gun she fired to police and said she put it in a clothes basket or box in the basement and covered it with clothing, according to the probable cause statement. Police told her about the firearm they found, which Leonard said was her mother’s gun and not hers.
Detectives later learned from detention center staff that Leonard allegedly called her mother and asked her to move the gun she had used in the incident.
Leonard is being held on $50,000 bond.
This story was originally published December 28, 2023 at 3:04 PM.
