Man who claimed self-defense gets more than 3 years in fatal KCK shooting
A Wyandotte County District Court judge on Friday sentenced a 23-year-old man to more than three years in prison in the 2025 fatal shooting of a man outside a Kansas City, Kansas, apartment building.
Judge Jennifer Myers sentenced Andrew Holmes to three years and five months in prison after he pleaded guilty in January to one count of voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Erik Johnson-Linares. Holmes was also ordered to serve three years of probation.
The fatal shooting occurred around 5 p.m. April 24, 2025, at the Terrace Pointe Apartments, 641 S. 71 Terrace. Arriving officers found Johnson-Linares outside with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to court documents, prior to the shooting, there was a large fight involving several women in the parking lot. Among the women who were fighting were the mothers of Holmes and Johnson-Linares.
During the fight, Johnson-Linares ran out of his apartment carrying a gun and ran directly toward the group. When Johnson-Linares approached the women, Holmes shot Johnson-Linares, killing him. Holmes had fired at least six rounds, striking Johnson-Linares in the face, neck, chest and arm.
Holmes filed a motion for immunity, saying he fired the shots in response to the threat to everyone’s safety. Prosecutors argued that surveillance video showed that Johnson-Linares never raised the gun in his hand, nor did he rack the gun, point it at anyone or fire a shot. Prosecutors argued that Johnson-Linares was acting in lawful defense of another when he went to protect his mother.
According to court documents, a judge denied Holmes’ request for immunity and ordered him to stand trial.
This story was originally published March 14, 2026 at 1:46 PM.
