7 KC cops have been charged with crimes in past 5 years. Where their cases stand
Since 2020, at least seven officers with the Kansas City Police Department have been charged in connection with killings, excessive force or financial crimes.
Two of those officers remain employed by the department, according to Sgt. Phil DiMartino, a police spokesperson.
Victims of five of the KCPD officers are Black; four of those officers have surrendered their law enforcement license, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety’s peace officer license report. The other officer, who remains on the force, has had the assault charge against him dismissed.
Christopher Showalter
Christopher Showalter currently faces a single charge of fourth degree misdemeanor assault after being indicted by a grand jury on July 3. The charge stems from a July 2024 altercation in Westport where Showalter allegedly pulled a man off his bicycle and slammed his chin and face into the sidewalk. Showalter was working off duty as a security guard in the area.
The indictment comes after The Star reported on a lawsuit against Showalter, who is named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed June 23 for the same incident.
Showalter is assigned to KCPD’s patrol bureau according to DiMartino. His arraignment is scheduled for July 15. If convicted, he could face up to a year in jail and a fine up to $2,000.
Aaron McKie
A federal jury found Aaron McKie guilty on 9 counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in February of this year.
McKie is said to have defrauded Mid-America Crime Free, Inc., a non-profit that claimed to promote anti-crime programs and train individuals in the rental housing industry, over a 14-year period while he served as president of the charity, according to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
The fraud began in July 2009 and ended in October 2023, over which time McKie spent over $200,060 for “personal purposes” from the $380,620 donated to the charity.
Some of those funds were donated with the understanding they would be used to facilitate free seminars for rental property owners and train police officers. In reality, KCPD’s Crime Free Multi-Housing unit provided the training to landlords and paid the salaries and expenses of the officers who trained them. McKie was assigned to that unit from 2002 to 2023 during his 24 years of service with the department.
Pending sentencing, McKie faces up to 20 years in federal prison without parole for each count of wire fraud and money laundering. His tenure with KCPD ended in September 2024, DiMartino said.
Nicholas McQuillen
Nicholas McQuillen was charged with fourth degree misdemeanor assault in March 2021 for allegedly pepper spraying Tarence Maddox and his 15-year-old daughter at a George Floyd demonstration in May 2020. The case was dismissed in June 2023 by former Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.
Baker decided to drop charges following consultations with attorneys for both parties. A spokesperson for her office told The Star in 2023 that it was the “best outcome” for those involved.
In 2022, the police department agreed to settle a civil case concerning the incident for $110,000.
McQuillen remains employed by KCPD as a sergeant assigned to the patrol bureau.
Matthew Brummett and Charles Prichard
Matthew Brummett and Charles Prichard pleaded guilty in 2022 to assaulting Breona Hill just before a criminal trial was set to begin. They were each sentenced to three years of probation.
In 2019, the former officers were seen on video using excessive force against Hill, a Black transgender woman, during an arrest at a beauty supply store. Video captured the officers slamming Hill’s face on the ground and placing a knee on her neck.
Brummett and Prichard were accused of using excessive force in two other alleged incidents, according to previous reporting by The Star.
They were required to surrender their police certification and no longer hold a peace officer license. Surrendering a peace officer license is permanent, meaning the license cannot be reinstated in the state, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
Eric Devalkenaere
In December 2024, former Gov. Mike Parson commuted former KCPD detective Eric Devalkenaere’s sentence to parole in the 2019 killing of Cameron Lamb. Devalkenaere was found guilty of second degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in 2021 for shooting Lamb and failed to have his conviction overturned on appeal.
Devalkenaere was initially sentenced to six years in prison, but will serve the rest of his sentence on parole until October 2029. According to Parson’s order, Devalkenaere could have his parole revoked if he violates the conditions of his parole.
At the time of commutation, Devalkenaere had 4 years and 10 months left to serve in prison. He no longer holds a police license.
Matthew Neal
Matthew Neal pleaded guilty in 2022 to smashing a 15-year-old boy’s face onto the concrete at a Go Chicken Go fast food restaurant in 2019. He initially pleaded not guilty to a third degree felony assault charge.
Neal, a former KCPD sergeant, placed his knee between the boy’s head and neck, causing the boy to struggle to breathe.
Neal was sentenced to 4 years of probation and required to surrender his police license. He was also ordered to write a letter of apology to the victim.
A ‘double standard’
“Police are normally eager to provide (probable cause) statements on cases they investigate, and they provide them on every other type of case, except for these,” Baker said of McQuillen’s case in 2023. “KCPD is the only law enforcement entity who takes this position, which cuts off my independent judgment on case review.”
Gwen Grant, the president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, says that the act of withholding case documents when an officer is involved sends a message that “the scales of justice are not equally balanced.”
“(It sends a message) that KCPD operates with a double standard, a different set of rules for their officers. You know, one set of rules for their officers and another set of rules for the communities they police,” she said.
That double standard, which she believes continues to pervade policing in Kansas City, “hinders authentic and effective” relationship building between police and the community, said Grant. Because of this, Kansas City’s high rates of crime and violence cannot be adequately addressed, she said. The double standard “makes it difficult to engage in the impactful community policing” needed to address those problems.
“Where I’m going with this is that they just want to protect the status quo,” Grant said.
“And until they change their practices and hold bad cops accountable, they’re never going to be able to get the kind of community trust that’s needed to truly make a difference.”
This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
