Man pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter after teen fatally shot at gas station
A Kansas City man pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Jackson County court Friday in connection with a shooting at a gas station last June that left an 18-year-old dead.
Hajji McDonald III, 25, also pleaded guilty to attempted stealing, according to a guilty plea document filed in Jackson County court.
He was sentenced to 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for first-degree involuntary manslaughter, and four for attempted stealing, according to the plea document. The sentences are set to run concurrently.
McDonald also pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery and aggravated fleeing a stop/detention Friday in a separate case stemming from an incident on Jan. 1, 2025, according to court documents.
At 8:40 p.m. on June 22, Kansas City police officers found 18-year-old Jeremiah Jones suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest outside a gas station in the 5400 block of Winner Road, according to a probable cause statement in support of McDonald’s arrest.
Jones 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 gas station, according to the court document. At around 8:20 p.m., a man arrived on an electric dirt bike and entered the gas station.
Standing by a doorway, Jones made gestures toward the man’s dirt bike, the statement said. He walked off camera toward McDonald, before walking toward the dirt bike.
The pair kept looking “back and forth in the same direction,” the statement said.
When the man exited the gas station, McDonald walked toward him. When the man turned around, Jones allegedly lunged toward the man, attempting to grab his bag.
The man was pulled toward McDonald, who assisted in knocking him to the ground, the court document said. Jones continued to pull on the bag, dragging the man around, according to the footage.
The victim pulled out a firearm, which McDonald attempted to take, the statement said. As the man got to his feet, McDonald ran.
Jones lost grip of the bag, and the man fired toward the teen several times, according to the probable cause statement.
The victim went to the Kansas City Police Department headquarters on July 9 with a lawyer, where he provided officers with a formal statement and surrendered his gun, the statement said.
He told investigators while he was inside the gas station, he noticed Jones “continually looking” at his dirt bike and “thought he wanted it,” according to the statement.
When he realized Jones and McDonald were “coming for him,” the statement said, he attempted to get away. In the process, he fired his gun seven times toward Jones.
In an interview with officers, McDonald said 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 the pair were walking to his drug dealer when they crossed paths with the alleged victim, the statement said. Jones attacked the man “without any words being spoken prior,” McDonald said.
McDonald told investigators he was trying to break up a “fight” between the man and Jones, the statement said. When the man pulled out the gun, McDonald said he “pushed Jones and ran away.”
Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson initially announced charges against McDonald in July.
“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 a press release.
McDonald is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center, according to the jail’s inmate listing.
This story was originally published March 16, 2026 at 10:19 PM.
