Fewer details made public in Chiefs rally shooting charges than in past juvenile cases
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Despite heightened public interest following last week’s mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade, officials have released fewer details about the charges filed against two teenage suspects than in past cases.
On Friday, the family division of Jackson County Circuit Court announced cases against two juveniles, including “gun related and resisting arrest charges.”
Valerie Hartman, a spokeswoman for the court, declined to provide additional information, including the exact charges or the ages of the two defendants.
“The news release contains the extent of the information that the Office of the Juvenile Officer can release at this time,” she wrote in an email.
The Office of the Juvenile Officer acts as a prosecutor for criminal cases brought against minors. Proceedings are held in family court.
Police documents supporting criminal charges against juveniles, such as probable cause statements, are not publicly available in family court cases. Among other information, the names of the defendants are not made public.
But past news releases from other juvenile cases have specified the charges and the ages of juveniles.
For instance, in a May 15, 2023, email, Hartman wrote that a 14 year old had been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action, both felonies, in the fatal stabbing of a teacher.
Information was also released when a 15-year-old boy was charged in a fatal stabbing at Northeast Middle School in 2022, and in 2021 when a 15 year old and a 17 year old were charged with murder after two other teenagers were shot and killed.
Hartman did not respond when asked why the Super Bowl rally shooting was being treated differently.
A public records request for the same information was also denied.
Nicholas Purifoy, assistant legal counsel for Jackson County Circuit Court, wrote in a response that “The Court cannot comply with your request.”
“Case records are created by the Court in its judicial capacity—and thus not subject to disclosure under the Missouri Sunshine Law.”
The specific charges are a key detail because serious offenses, such as murder, mandate a hearing to determine if a juvenile will be charged as an adult.
Twenty-three people were shot last Wednesday as the Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally was wrapping up at Union Station. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a Johnson County mother of two, died.
On Thursday, Kansas City Police Department Chief Stacey Graves said a dispute led to the shooting. Since then, little information has been released.
“Our detectives, our investigators, are still working around the clock tirelessly on this investigation. And unfortunately because of the integrity of the investigation, there isn’t much more I can share,” Graves said after the Board of Police Commissioners meeting on Tuesday morning.
She declined to comment on what the dispute was over or if there are additional suspects.
On Tuesday, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced a news conference to give an update on the investigation.
At the 2 p.m. news conference at the Jackson County Courthouse in downtown Kansas City, Baker said two men were charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
The two adults, Dominic M. Miller, of Kansas City, and Lyndell Mays, of Raytown, were being held on $1 million bond.
According to Baker, Mays got into a verbal dispute with someone he did not know.
“That argument very quickly escalated,” she said.
Mays allegedly pulled out a handgun and others, including Miller, also drew their firearms and began firing.
Baker said the investigation was ongoing and “still very, very active.”
She declined to comment on the two juvenile cases or say how they were connected to the charges filed against Mays and Miller.
This story was originally published February 20, 2024 at 1:08 PM.
