Kansas City man faces ten charges, including murder, after double-shooting

A Kansas City man has been charged with ten felonies and misdemeanors, including murder, in a double-shooting that killed a man and injured a woman earlier this month.

Otis Wayne Brown, 48, was charged Friday in Jackson County Court with second-degree murder for his role in the shooting death of Shroy Lapsely, 39.

Other charges pending against Brown include four counts of armed criminal action, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, one count of assault or attempted assault, one count of property damage and one count of interference with a legal process. All but the latter two charges are felonies.

On September 3 around 11:30 a.m. — just before the shooting — Kansas City police officers were called by employees at a Phillips 66 gas station at 5425 Prospect Avenue and asked to remove the two victims from the gas station, according to court documents. After officers ejected them from the gas station, the two walked south on E. 55th Street toward South Benton Avenue, court documents read, where the officers allegedly heard gunshots a few minutes later.

Officers responded to the intersection and found both victims lying in the street with gunshot wounds. Both were transported to Research Medical Center, where Lapsely was pronounced dead around 1 a.m. September 4.

While the woman was recovering from her gunshot wounds at Research Medical Center, she allegedly told officers that a man she identified as Brown had approached her and Lapsely at the intersection on foot and fired three shots at them.

The woman said that she immediately recognized Brown and that he would have been well acquainted with Lapsely, according to court documents.

Another witness familiar with both Brown and Lapsely told police that Brown and the woman had previously been dating, and that Brown had become upset when she began dating Lapsely, according to court documents.

After his arrest, Brown allegedly refused to allow detectives to swab his mouth for a DNA sample, according to court documents. Officers involved with Brown’s post arrest interview said that he threw furniture around the interview room and threatened to assault the various people in the room, court documents read.

Brown was previously convicted of unlawful use of a weapon in 2022, according to court records. He has also previously faced at least three charges related to resisting or evading arrest, court records show.

Brown is not currently eligible to be released on bond, according to court records. He will next appear in Jackson County court for a bond review hearing on October 3 at 10:00 a.m.

Lapsely’s murder was the 109th homicide reported in Kansas City, Missouri in 2024, according to data collected by The Star.

At the same time last year, 139 homicides had been reported in the city, according to Star data.

Reporting by The Star’s Kendrick Calfee was used in this article.