Suspect in KC fatal shooting during alleged drug deal to stand trial as an adult
A 19-year-old accused of fatally shooting a man during what investigators believe to be a drug deal in 2025 is certified to stand trial as an adult, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Kayden Bordley, 19, faces one count each of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action, according to a Jackson County charging document.
According to a news release from Jazzlyn Johnson, director of communications for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, Bordley was 17 at the time of the shooting. A Jackson County family court judge certified Bordley to stand trial as an adult on June 4.
Officers with the Kansas City Police Department were called to the area of East 56th Street and Woodland Avenue just before 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 16, 2025, on reports of a vehicle accident, according to a probable cause statement written in support of the charges filed against Bordley.
There, they found a white Dodge Durango stopped in a front yard, the statement said. They found 46-year-old Keevon Mitchell suffering from gunshot wounds in the driver’s seat. Emergency personnel declared him dead at the scene.
Investigators were contacted by a witness at the scene, who said they saw a group of men wearing face masks after the shooting, according to the court document.
Security camera footage from a nearby residence showed the Durango parked in a driveway when three suspects approached the vehicle’s driver’s side and spoke engaged with Mitchell, the probable cause statement said.
The group split up between the front, middle and rear of the car, the court document said, before all three moved “toward the driver’s door all at once.”
The vehicle “abruptly” reversed, and the suspects pursued the vehicle, according to the probable cause statement. Several gunshots can be heard as the men allegedly fired at the car.
The Dodge ran over a stop sign, reversed into a tree and traveled up a front yard before coming to a stop, the statement said. Surveillance footage showed the three men running out of camera view.
A witness who was on the phone with Mitchell at the time of shooting told detectives she overheard the group’s interaction with Mitchell, according to the court document. During the call, Mitchell allegedly told the witness, “Baby, they’re robbing me.”
Text messages between Mitchell and a suspect dating back to Feb. 8, 2025, appeared to “arrange meetings for drug deals,” the statement said. The pair exchanged messages the day of the shooting, arranging to meet.
The phone number was associated with a second suspect, who attended the same high school as Bordley in 2023, according to the court document.
A witness who lived near the scene identified Bordley as one of the men involved in the incident, according to the probable cause statement. Bordley’s DNA was located on a firearm used in the shooting, shell casings at the scene and on clothes worn during the incident.
Bordley is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $150,000 bond, according to the jail’s inmate listing. He is set to appear for a preliminary hearing on July 15.
