Man sentenced for role in fatal shooting at Sugar Creek Apartments
A Kansas City man was sentenced to 19 years in prison Monday for his role in a fatal shooting outside an Independence apartment complex in 2024.
Antonio Catalan-Sharr, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a plea agreement document Monday in connection to the June 5, 2024, fatal shooting outside the Sugar Creek Apartments, now the Pleasant Grove Apartments, in Independence that killed 20-year-old Donnie M. Kirkland Jr.
All other charges filed against him were dismissed, the plea document said.
Officers with the Independence Police Department were called to the apartment complex just before 1 p.m. on June 5, 2024, where they found Kirkland lying in the parking lot with a gunshot wound to his chest, according to a probable cause statement filed by officers in support of Catalan-Sharr’s arrest.
Kirkland was conscious when investigators arrived, telling them he “did not know” who shot him, the statement said. He was taken to a hospital, where he died later that day.
According to the probable cause statement, Kirkland worked at a fast-food restaurant in the area.
The court document alleges that in an interview with police, Catalan-Sharr said he went to the restaurant to “get some food.” There, he discussed a gun sale with Kirkland in the drive-thru. An employee later told investigators they saw the two men speaking at the restaurant.
Catalan-Sharr allegedly said he agreed to sell Kirkland a gun, and the pair met at the latter’s apartment complex, the statement said. There, he claimed Kirkland “brandished” a gun, and Catalan-Sharr shot him.
In the court document, investigators said Kirkland did not have a weapon in his possession at the scene. Camera footage from the apartment complex also showed that no one took a weapon from him at the time.
Detectives were able to identify Catalan-Sharr through his vehicle, a red Jeep, which witnesses noted left the area shortly after the shooting, according to the probable cause statement.
Video footage from the apartment complex showed Kirkland speaking to several people in the Jeep before backing away and collapsing, the court document said. A passenger in the car was also arrested, but not charged in connection to the shooting.
In the car, investigators found a Taco Bell bag, several documents with Catalan-Sharr’s name on them and ammunition matching a shell casing found at the scene, according to the statement.
Additionally, cellphone data from Catalan-Sharr’s phone showed he had searched “Murder Second Degree in the state of Missouri,” and viewed several news articles about the shooting, the court document said. Detectives found a text message in which the man said he “would be going to jail,” and did something “sloppy.”
Catalan-Sharr will serve his 19-year sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
