Charges filed in robbery linked to Craigslist shooting of Liberty couple

Jackson County prosecutors on Friday charged a Kansas City man with a Wednesday robbery that is allegedly related to the shooting of a Liberty couple the same night.

In both cases, the victims were robbed in Kansas City after meeting someone to buy or sell merchandise advertised on Craigslist.

Debvon L. Buckner, 24, was charged with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action. He was one of four men Kansas City police took into custody Thursday night in connection with the two crimes.

Prosecutors allege that Buckner was one of three people who robbed a man in the 8800 block of Crystal Avenue. The victim had posted an Xbox game system for sale on Craigslist and had gone to that location to meet someone who called him about the ad.

One of the robbers pulled out a handgun, and the robbers took the Xbox and related equipment.

According to court documents filed Friday, the victim identified Buckner as one of the robbers.

The call that set up that robbery came from the same phone number used to set up another meeting later that night with the Liberty couple who were robbed and shot, according to court documents.

Police tracked that phone to the area of U.S. 40 and Sterling Avenue, where they arrested Buckner and another man Thursday at a bus stop. They recovered a partially taken-apart phone at the scene.

In the second robbery, the Liberty couple and their teenage son had gone to a southeast Kansas City apartment complex to look at a 2007 Hyundai Sonata advertised on Craigslist.

After the victims took the car for a test drive, the seller said he had to call his wife and walked away.

Two others approached, pulled out black handguns and demanded the Liberty couple’s money.

When the robbers pointed the guns at the woman, her husband stepped in front of her. The robbers began shooting.

One grabbed the woman’s purse and shot the husband one more time before fleeing in the Hyundai, which later was found abandoned.

The husband was shot four times and his wife was shot once. The bullet shattered her right upper arm. Their son was not injured.

Police are continuing to investigate both robberies.

This story was originally published July 18, 2014 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Charges filed in robbery linked to Craigslist shooting of Liberty couple."