Court documents reveal the suspects in the Kansas City parade shooting could be using Missouri’s “stand your ground” law as a defense.
Earlier this month, a shooting broke out as people gathered for the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration in front of the city’s Union Station. Lyndell Mays, 23, and Dominic Miller, 18, were charged with second-degree murder, among other counts, in connection to the shooting that left one woman dead and over two dozen people with gunshot wounds. Two juveniles were charged with crimes in connection to the mass shooting as well.
According to probable cause statements, the two men felt threatened; Mays said he fired his weapon after hearing someone say, “I’m going to get you,” interpreting it as a threat to his life, according to the Associated Press. The outlet also reported that Miller said he was only shooting because someone was shooting at him.
Speaking to WDAF-TV last week, Marques Harris, a friend of Miller’s who sustained a neck injury from the incident, stated that Mays shot him, with Miller firing his weapon in defense of Harris after. Mays allegedly admitted to firing the first shot during a police interview.
“Y’all need to know that Domo didn’t play a part in going down there thinking he was going to be shooting 22 people — because didn’t nobody have intentions on 22 people getting shot,” Harris said.
Missouri is one of 30 states that have variations of “stand your ground” laws, mainly allowing people to use force, such as deadly force, to defend themselves without retreating first. Trial attorney Daniel Ross characterized the “stand your ground” law as a “formidable defense” used by himself and other defense attorneys in Kansas City and expects it to be invoked in the cases of Mays and Miller, per the Associated Press.
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“Stand your ground” laws entered the spotlight in 2012 after the death of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman said he killed the unarmed Florida teenager in self-defense. A Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman of all charges in 2013.
“Collateral damage under Missouri law is excused if you’re actually engaged in lawful self-defense and there’s other folks injured,” Ross added.