On verge of trial, founder of KC nonprofit faces new slate of charges in 2023 killing
A Kansas City man who founded a local nonprofit focused on helping people leaving prison faces an elevated slate of charges for a killing he was accused of in south Kansas City in 2023.
Na’im Al-Amin, known as the founder and CEO of Swagg Inc., a nonprofit focused on preventing people from being incarcerated and helping those released from prison to re-enter society, had been on the verge of a murder trial in Jackson County Circuit Court later this month.
That trial was set to begin June 29, but has now been pushed back to January.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday that a grand jury had indicted Al-Amin on one count of first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, one count of unlawful use of a weapon, one count of first-degree kidnapping, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution. Previously, he had been charged with one count of second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of unlawful use of a weapon.
Al-Amin’s attorney, Alison McCourt, wrote in a court filing Monday that the defense and prosecution had been in mediation over a plea last month and that during those proceedings, prosecutors said that “if an agreement was not reached they would be going back and submitting the case to the grand jury to amend the charge to murder in the first degree.”
Al-Amin has been out of jail on bond while the matter has wound its way toward a trial.
South Kansas City shooting
Todd Tillman, 36, was the victim in the July 2023 shooting.
Police were called to the area of East 83rd Street and Troost Avenue around 2 a.m. on July 14, 2023, after shots were reported in the area. Later that morning, Tillman’s body was found in a nearby yard.
A witness told police that she knew Tillman and Al-Amin and said that she had introduced the two after Al-Amin had asked her if she knew anyone who worked in construction, according to court documents.
The night of the shooting, the woman said Al-Amin had invited her over to his residence, and when she arrived, he forced her to go with him to Tillman at gunpoint, according to court documents. They drove together to his location, and she said Al-Amin got out of a vehicle while it was still in motion and then pointed a gun at the victim. She saw them start to fight and then heard the sound of shots, police said.
The two returned to her vehicle and Al-Amin directed her to drive to the Missouri River, where he took her phone, his phone and a gun and threw them in the river, she said, according to court documents.
