A Jackson County judge ordered a 15-year-old teen charged with shooting a gun at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally in February to serve a term at a state facility for youths.
The decision was handed down Thursday by Jackson County Family Court Administrative Judge Jennifer Phillips during a proceeding similar to a sentencing hearing in adult court. A commitment at a state Department of Youth Services facility typically lasts 9-12 months, a deputy juvenile officer with Jackson County Circuit Court said Thursday.
Earlier this month , Phillips accepted the teen’s admission that he committed the charge of unlawful use of a weapon by knowingly discharging or firing a firearm at a person. The Jackson County Juvenile Officer’s office, which oversees youth cases, dismissed a second charge, armed criminal action, and agreed to not go through the certification process that could see his case sent to adult court.
Prior to Phillips announcing her decision, the teen, referred to as R.G. in court documents, read a statement apologizing for his actions and to all those who were hurt at the rally and said he wanted much better for himself.
“I apologize to my family and to my community for my actions,” he said, describing himself as a good kid before he became involved with a group of peers involved in the rally shooting. “That is not who I am.”
“You made some bad choices, but that doesn’t make you a bad person, it doesn’t make you a bad kid,” Phillips told the teen as she announced her ruling, adding that DYS would have the programs and tools to help him move forward.
The Feb. 14 shooting at Kansas City’s Union Station killed 43-year-old Lisa Lopez Galvan and injured many others. Jackson County prosecutors have alleged that the shooting was set off during an altercation between two groups.
Kansas City police detective Grant Spiking testified Thursday that after Lyndell Mays, 23, of Raytown, one of the men facing a murder charge for the shooting, first pulled a gun and fired, R.G. also pulled a firearm, began to shoot toward Mays and hit another person in his own group, Dominic Miller.
Spiking said 25 people were injured by gunfire in the brief flurry of shots and said 69 people were injured in other ways, like broken bones, brain injuries and dislocated joints, as they fled the area.
Earlier in the hearing, loved ones asked Phillips to release the teen and send him home, describing him as a loving person who had been negatively influenced by his peers in recent months. Jon Bailey, the teen’s attorney, said he thought R.G. had learned from the experience and requested he be released on an intensive supervision program and house arrest with a condition of no social media use.
“Our house is not a home without him,” the teen’s mother told Phillips.
Monica Penrose, an attorney representing the juvenile office, requested the teen be sent to a DYS facility, arguing that time there would help him to form new habits and separate him from any negative peer influences.
Mays, Miller, 19, of Kansas City, and another man, Terry Young, 21, of Kansas City, face murder charges for their roles in the shooting.
Two other teens have been charged in the shooting. Phillips ruled last month that one of them, who has been identified by his initials, A.M., will not face prosecution as an adult, and the other teen was detained on gun-related charges that do not rise to the level of being tried as an adult.
The Star’s Robert Cronkleton contributed reporting to this story.
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