Two men sentenced in fatal shooting in Pendleton Heights during drug deal gone bad
Two Kansas City men were sentenced to prison last week for their roles in a fatal shooting at an apartment complex in Pendleton Heights in 2024.
The shooting, which killed 22-year-old David Crowell, allegedly stemmed from a drug deal gone wrong, according to prosecutors.
Antoine Craddock Jr., 20, pleaded guilty last Tuesday to second-degree murder, armed criminal action and first-degree assault, according to a Jackson County plea and sentencing document. He was sentenced to 18 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Malek Daniels, 20, pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter, armed criminal action and second-degree assault, according to a Jackson County plea and sentencing document. He was sentenced to 12 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
A third defendant charged in connection with the incident, 20-year-old Robert Spears of Grain Valley, is set to appear for a jury trial on Oct. 26, according to a Jackson County court document. He is charged with second-degree accessory to murder, armed criminal action, accessory to unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree accessory to assault.
Officers with the Kansas City Police Department were called to the intersection of Smart and Bales Avenues just after 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 17, 2024, on reports of shooting, according to an affidavit in support of the men’s arrests.
There, they found two men suffering from gunshot wounds in a black vehicle, the court document said. Crowell, who was found in the passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
As investigators arrived at the scene, additional officers were called to a nearby intersection after a caller reported that they saw a man crouched behind several cars before he fired toward a vehicle, shooting out its back window, the affidavit said.
Detectives tied the incident back to an apartment parking lot in the 300 block of Maple Boulevard, where they recovered the vehicle’s back windshield wiper, according to the document. They also found glass and copper fragments, as well as several 9mm and .40 caliber shell casings.
Jazzlyn Johnson, director of communications for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, said in a news release Monday that the apartment’s video surveillance footage allegedly showed Spears discussing a marijuana sale with Crowell in the parking lot that afternoon.
Craddock and Daniels, who had spoken with Spears in the parking lot earlier that day, walked toward the back of Crowell’s vehicle, where they opened fire, the news release said.
Spears allegedly ran as the car attempted to leave the area, with Daniels firing at it as it left the apartment complex, according to the news release.
Investigators were able to identify the men through the surveillance footage and photos of their vehicles taken by a witness, according to the affidavit. A vehicle owned by one of the men was later found at an area hospital, where he was being treated for facial injuries from glass.
In an interview with detectives, the driver of the vehicle said he was working as a mechanic on Crowell’s vehicle when the pair discovered they were missing a part needed to fix it, according to the affidavit.
Since Crowell’s vehicle was “inoperable,” Crowell asked the driver to take him to meet someone to pick up money that they could use for the car, the document said.
Crowell was opening the passenger door when someone started shooting toward them from the back of the vehicle, according to the affidavit. Crowell allegedly returned fire.
The driver, who said they were new to the city, asked Crowell how to get to the hospital, but the man “slumped over,” the affidavit said.
Text messages between Crowell and Spears allegedly revealed the man asked Crowell to bring marijuana to the apartment complex, which Crowell priced at $100, according to the affidavit. Crowell texted the man when he was pulling into the apartment complex.
According to Johnson, detectives also recovered text messages in which Spears allegedly discussed plans to rob Crowell.
