Man accused of theft at KC gas station charged with 2nd-degree murder: prosecutor
A Kansas City man faces a second-degree murder charge in the death of a Kansas City teen in June.
Hajji McDonald III also faces one count of attempted theft connected to the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Jeremiah Jones, according to a Jackson County court document.
In a press release Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said McDonald was charged with second-degree murder because his participation in the theft “makes him a responsible party for the resulting death.”
At 8:40 p.m. June 22, Kansas City police officers were dispatched to a gas station in the 5400 block of Winner Road on reports of a disturbance, according to a probable cause statement in support of McDonald’s arrest.
Officers located Jones on the east side of the building suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the statement. He was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Video footage from the gas station showed a man, later identified as McDonald, loitering near the front of the business, according to the statement. He was wearing “a distinctive black t-shirt with ‘Tupac’ across the front.”
At around 8:20 p.m., anunidentfied man arrived on an electric dirt bike and entered the gas station.
Jones stood by the gas station’s doorway and and made gestures toward the unidentified man’s dirt bike.
Jones then walked off camera toward McDonald, before walking back into view toward the dirt bike, according to the statement. The pair kept “looking back and forth in the same direction.”
When the unidentified man exited the business, McDonald walked toward him. When the man turned around, Jones allegedly lunged toward the man and grabbed his bag, trying to rip it from him, according to the statement.
The unidentified man was pulled toward McDonald, who assisted in knocking him to the ground, according to the statement. Jones continued to pull on the bag, dragging the man around.
The man pulled out his firearm, and McDonald reached toward the man to take it, according to the statement. As the man got to his feet, McDonald ran.
Jones lost grip of the bag and the man fired toward Jones several times, according to the statement.
The unidentified man went to Kansas City police headquarters on July 9 with a lawyer and provided officers with a formal statement and surrendered his firearm.
He told officers while inside the store, he saw Jones “continually looking” at his dirt bike and “thought he wanted it,” according to the statement.
When he realized the Jones and McDonald were coming for him he tried to get away, according to the statement. The unidentified man then pulled out his firearm and fired at Jones seven times, according to the statement.
In an interview with investigators, McDonald told police he was smoking fentanyl at the gas station when Jones approached him and asked where he could get drugs, according to the probable cause statement.
McDonald said he was walking Jones to his drug dealer when they walked toward the unidentified man, according to the probable cause statement. Jones attacked the man “without any words being spoken prior,” McDonald said, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
McDonald told investigators he was trying to break up a “fight” between the man and Jones, according to the probable cause statement. When the man pulled out the gun, McDonald said he “pushed Jones and ran away.”
“Under Missouri law, if a death occurs during the commission of a felony, everyone involved in committing that felony can be charged with murder,” Johnson said in the press release.
It’s unclear if the unidentified man involved in the incident will face charges.
McDonald is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center with no bond, according to the jail’s inmate listing.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 8:19 PM.
