Independence man sentenced in 2022 botched drug deal that left one dead
An Independence man was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, with credit for time served, for his role in a botched drug deal in 2022 that left another man dead.
Chadd Williams, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter on Dec. 5, 2025, according to a Jackson County plea document.
On Dec. 18, 2022, officers with the Independence Police Department were called to an apartment complex in the 1000 block of South Brookside Avenue around 3:30 a.m. on reports of an unconscious man inside a vehicle.
There, investigators found James Smith, 19, in the driver’s seat of a black Chrysler 300 with injuries to his face and a gunshot wound to his chest. Each of the car’s doors were open, and investigators found what appeared to be counterfeit bills on the ground.
Video surveillance footage from the area showed a Nissan SUV with three occupants pulling into a parking lot at the apartment complex around 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 17, 2022.
Two people in the vehicle were seen walking toward Smith’s vehicle, and the video appeared to show one of the suspects holding a firearm inside Smith’s vehicle.
The two other occupants of the Nissan have not been identified by police, according to a sentencing memorandum filed in Jackson County court Monday in reference to Williams’ case.
Williams was initially placed at the scene by phone records. Days after the incident, detectives received pictures and messages from Smith’s Snapchat account indicating an arrangement between Williams and Smith to purchase marijuana.
According to a sentencing memorandum filed in Jackson County court Monday, both Williams and Smith attended Truman High School at the time of the incident. Williams admitted he was present at the time Smith was fatally wounded.
Williams is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center, according to the jail’s inmate listing.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch contributed reporting.
This story was originally published March 24, 2026 at 9:44 PM.
