2 men are charged with murder in the deadly shooting at Kansas City’s Super Bowl celebration
Prosecutors charge two men with murder in last week’s shooting that killed one person and injured 22 others after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade. (Feb. 20)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two men charged with murder in last week’s shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade were strangers who pulled out guns and began firing within seconds of starting an argument, according to court documents released Tuesday.
Missouri prosecutors said at a news conference that Lyndell Mays, of Raytown, Missouri, and Dominic Miller, of Kansas City, Missouri, have been charged with second-degree murder and several weapons counts in the shooting that left one person dead and roughly two dozen others injured.
Both men were shot during the melee, according to probable cause affidavits. Both have been hospitalized since, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said during a news conference.
The argument began when two groups of people grew agitated over the belief that people in the other group were staring at them, according to affidavits from police. Surveillance video shows Mays and someone with him aggressively approached the other group, police say.
The video showed Mays was the first to begin shooting despite being surrounded by crowds of people, including children, according to one of the affidavits.
Mays told detectives “he hesitated shooting because he knew there were kids there,” according to the affidavit. He told investigators he began firing after someone in the other group said, “I’m going to get you,” which he took to mean they would try to kill him. He said he chose a random person from the other group to shoot at as that person was running away, the affidavit says.
Miller initially told investigators that he and his friends began running after hearing gunfire and that he was shot in the back, one affidavit says. When investigators told Miller they had video of him chasing someone in Mays’ group and shooting, Miller admitted to firing four to five shots, the affidavit said.
A bullet from Miller’s gun killed Lisa Lopez-Galvan, officials said Tuesday. Lopez-Galvan was in a nearby crowd of people watching the Chiefs rally, according to one of the affidavits.
Online court records did not list attorneys who could comment on the men’s behalf. The Missouri State Public Defender’s Office said applications for public defenders for the men had not yet been received by the Kansas City office.
Messages left with a possible relative of Miller were not immediately returned. The Associated Press could not find phone numbers for members of Mays’ family.
Authorities did not release ages for either man, but court records show Mays is in his early 20s and Miller is 18 or 19.
Authorities also detained two juveniles last week on gun-related and resisting arrest charges. They said Tuesday that more charges were still possible.
“I do want you to understand: We seek to hold every shooter accountable for their actions on that day. Every single one,” Peters Baker said. “So while we’re not there yet on every single individual, we’re going to get there.”
The shooting on Feb. 14 outside the city’s historic Union Station was a tragic end to the happy occasion that brought an estimated 1 million people to the city. It happened even as 800 police officers patrolled the celebration. The people injured range in age from 8 to 47, according to police.
The woman who was killed, Lopez-Galvan, was mother of two and the host of a local radio program called “Taste of Tejano.”
“It is reassuring for our family and the entire community to know that this joint team effort has resulted in the identification of the suspects involved,” her family said in a statement after Tuesday’s announcement.
The shooting was the latest at a sports celebration in the U.S. A shooting wounded several people last year in Denver after the Nuggets’ NBA championship.
That led Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas to wonder whether it’s time to rethink championship celebrations, even as he promised last week that the city will continue to celebrate its victories. Next month’s St. Patrick’s Day parade will go on as scheduled, Lucas said.
The Kansas City shooting occurred in a state with few gun regulations and a city that has struggled with gun violence. In 2020, Kansas City was among nine cities chosen by the U.S. Justice Department in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023, the city matched its record with 182 homicides, most of which involved guns.
On Monday, Missouri’s Republican-led House passed a ban on celebratory gunfire in cities following debate that ranged from tearful to angry. It now goes to the Missouri Senate for consideration.
GOP Gov. Mike Parson vetoed a sweeping crime-related bill last year that included a similar measure, citing issues with other provisions.
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Beck reported from Omaha, Neb. Associated Press reporter Summer Ballentine in Jefferson City, Mo., and research Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed to this report.