Two men have been charged with murder and other crimes in connection with a shooting at a parade following the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory that left one person dead and 22 injured, Missouri prosecutors said Tuesday.
Dominic M. Miller and Lyndell Mays each face charges including second degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. Miller and Mays are each being held on $1 million bond, according to a statement from the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. Mays is 23 years old and Miller is 18 years old, according to Michael Mansur, a spokesperson from the prosecutor’s office.
The shooting began around 2 p.m. on Feb. 14 in a crowd of more than 1 million people gathered for the celebration in front of Kansas City’s Union Station. More than 20 people ages 8-47 suffered gunshot wounds in the shooting and parade attendees could be seen scattering in videos shared on social media.
Mays was in a verbal argument with another person with whom he had no prior connection, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said at a news conference Tuesday. The argument “very quickly escalated” to Mays drawing his handgun. Almost immediately other people, including Miller, pulled out handguns, too.
One witness said a group of people approached Mays and another person, and they “began arguing about why they were staring at each other,” Kansas City police detective Grant Spiking said in a probable cause statement. Mays allegedly admitted to shooting first and firing two shots, and he “acknowledged he shouldn’t have pulled a gun out,” Spiking noted.
Miller estimated he fired four to five shots, Kansas City police detective Brian Cowan said in a probable cause statement.
Baker said Miller’s firearm was the weapon that fatally struck Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a mother of two and local DJ. She said Lopez-Galvan’s family chose not to be at Tuesday’s news conference as they focus on the memorial.
“It is reassuring for our family, and the entire community to know that this joint effort resulted in the identification of the suspects involved,” the family said in statement released by the prosecutor’s office. “Though it does not bring back our beloved Lisa, it is comforting to know that the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office and the KCPD made it a top priority to seek justice for Lisa, the other shooting victims and those who had to witness this tragedy unfold in the Kansas City community.”
Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said on Tuesday the investigation “continues at full velocity.”
“Teams of detectives are working nonstop to ensure that anyone else responsible for the shootings is apprehended and that they receive the maximum punishment allowed by law,” Graves said.
She noted both Miller and Mays were struck by gunfire and have been hospitalized.
The new charges come after two juveniles were charged with “gun-related and resisting arrest charges” and held in the Jackson County Juvenile Detention Center last week. Baker said the investigation is still ongoing and prosecutors “seek to hold every shooter accountable for their actions on that day, every single one.” She asked for those who fled the scene or were injured during the shooting to contact her office.
“But the most important thing I want you to hear is that we are not done yet,” she later added. “We are not done yet.”
Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman
First appeared on www.usatoday.com