One of two brothers charged in North Kansas City High School shooting pleads guilty
One of the two brothers charged in the shooting outside North Kansas City High School that injured two people a year ago pleaded guilty Wednesday, according to court documents.
Michael Smallwood, 20, pleaded guilty to amended charges of two counts of second-degree assault and one count of unlawful use of a weapon, all felonies. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of fourth-degree assault.
“I was fired at and I shot back understanding that it was reckless for me to do that in a crowed of people,” Smallwood wrote in the plea. “I had a gun on me in a school.”
Under the plea agreement, prosecutors will ask that Smallwood be sentenced to 19 years in prison. Smallwood is allowed to request a lower sentence.
Clay County Judge Shane T. Alexander, who accepted the plea, set sentencing for 3 p.m. May 23.
Smallwood, along with his 19-year-old brother Lavon’Dre Smallwood, and 21-year-old Nathaniel M. Greer, were charged for their alleged involvement in a shooting outside the high school on March 2, 2024.
At the time, hundreds of spectators were inside watching a playoff basketball game between North Kansas City and Staley high schools. A speech and debate event was also taking place on the school’s campus. The sound of gunfire at the end of the game sent people scurrying for safety.
When prosecutors announced charges against the two brothers, they said five people fired shots outside during a dispute involving two groups of young men. All five had loaded firearms inside the gym, authorities said. The dispute touched off after the groups left the basketball game.
Two people were injured in the shooting, including a student bystander. The other person was a member of one of the groups and could be seen firing a gun once during the exchange, prosecutors said.
Lavon’Dre Smallwood, who was charged with first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action, aiding or abetting a person who discharged or shot a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon, is scheduled to stand trial in December.
Greer, who was charged with one count of unlawful use of a weapon for injuring a person, one count of armed criminal action and another count of unlawful use of a weapon for carrying a loaded firearm into a school, is scheduled to stand trial in October.
The Star’s Nathan Pilling provided some information for this story.
