Man charged with murder in June shooting at Sugar Creek Apartments: Prosecutors

A Kansas City man has been charged with murder in a fatal shooting at an Independence apartment complex in June.

Antonio Catalan-Sharr, 23, is accused of shooting Donnie M. Kirkland Jr., 20, outside the Sugar Creek Apartments in Independence on June 5. He is charged with second-degree murder, as well as unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action, according to court documents.

The shooting took place midday in the area of Sundown Avenue and Claremont Drive, The Star previously reported. Independence police found Kirkland, who lived in Independence, around 12:50 p.m. in the parking lot of the Sugar Creek Apartments with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to court documents.

Kirkland, who was conscious when police arrived, said he did not know who shot him, according to court documents. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital the same day.

According to court documents, Kirkland worked at a fast food restaurant near the Sugar Creek Apartments. Catalan-Sharr told police that he had come to the apartments from the restaurant after Kirkland agreed to sell Catalan-Sharr a gun, according to court documents.

Catalan-Sharr and Kirkland discussed the sale when Kirkland was serving Catalan-Sharr in the drive-thru, according to court documents. Catalan-Sharr told police that when the two got back to the apartments, Kirkland “brandished” a gun and Catalan-Sharr shot him, according to court documents.

One of Kirkland’s former co-workers confirmed that they saw Kirkland and Catalan-Sharr talking through the drive-thru window on the day of the shooting, according to court documents.

Several witnesses saw Catalan-Sharr leaving the apartment parking lot in a red Jeep shortly after the shooting, according to court documents. Surveillance video captured by the Sugar Creek Apartments shows Kirkland speaking with the occupants of the Jeep through an open driver’s door, then backing away from the car and collapsing.

A search warrant for the car, which was found in a Kansas City, Kansas parking lot, led to Catalan Sharr’s arrest, according to court documents. A passenger in the car was also arrested but ultimately not charged.

When Catalan-Sharr was arrested, a round of ammunition matching the bullet that killed Kirkland was found in his car. Catalan-Sharr and the witness were each carrying a stolen handgun when they were arrested, neither of which matched the bullet that hit Kirkland, according to court documents.

Catalan-Sharr’s car also contained a Taco Bell bag and several documents with Kirkland’s name on them, according to court documents.

He is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $250,000 cash bond, with no court date set yet.

Kirkland’s death was the ninth homicide reported in Independence in 2024, according to data collected by the Star. He was the sixth person to be shot in broad daylight in the city this year.