Could KC-area mall shooting have been prevented? Family of slain pregnant woman sues

The LED strip lights Karla Brown set up in her room remain on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, rotating through her favorite colors.

They shine as brightly as they did in November, when the 19-year-old woman was shot at the Independence Center mall, the victim of a dispute between two groups that escalated to gunfire. At the time she was shot, Karla was four months pregnant. She had been at the mall to shop for baby clothes.

Her parents, Christopher and Jennifer Brown, have kept her room in their Kansas City home largely the same as it was before her death. They feel she still visits them. They let the lights shine.

“We can’t change them,” her mother said, a tremble in her voice as she scrolled through photos on her phone, reminiscing about her late daughter’s life.

“We haven’t touched it for a while,” Christopher Brown said of the room.

In the months since their daughter’s death, the Browns have turned their attention toward seeking accountability through a lawsuit against both the mall and its hired security company, alleging both were negligent in providing adequate security. The lawsuit, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court in April, points to a series of incidents at the mall in the years leading up to the shooting, saying they were sufficient to have put the companies on notice that other similar incidents could endanger patrons.

To the Browns, it’s about making change, even if it’s a small change.

“We’re not looking to change the world, as much as we’d like to,” Christopher Brown said. “We just need to change what we can change. I think that’s a reasonable goal, is to make change in a mall like that.”

Matt Johnston, a Kansas City attorney representing the Browns, said there’s “no question” the incident was preventable, and said the facility should have more armed security guards to serve as a deterrent to criminal activity.

“They’re looking for answers, and we’re going to get them,” Johnston said. “Their primary concern from the moment they contacted us: We don’t want this to happen at Independence Center or anywhere else.”

“Change is needed,” he said.

The lawsuit identifies 13 prior incidents at the mall recorded in police reports since December 2020.

Those noted in the family’s complaint include one in December 2020 involving multiple disturbances and brawls involving a large fight at the mall and another that month in which a juvenile was shot and approximately 15-20 gunshots were fired at the Foot Locker store in the mall.

There was an armed robbery in the parking lot of Dick’s Sporting Goods in August 2021; a September 2022 shooting inside the mall after which investigators found shell casings in a common area; and a September 2023 armed robbery in the parking lot.

“With all those prior incidents there, it was never a matter of if something would happen, it was when,” Johnston said.

‘We cannot take pepper spray to a gun fight’

In an email to The Star, Holly Solomon, a spokesperson for the mall, said the shooting was “not a security issue, but rather an unfortunate incident.”

“The individuals involved were all acquainted with one another,” Solomon wrote.

“All events and leading up to, have been thoroughly documented and captured on camera,” she said. “Police responded within 46 seconds; we employ officers as well as other stores located inside the center do. The Independence Center prioritizes the safety of the community through ongoing assessments and enhancements to ensure the well-being of both our tenants and customers.”

In a filing earlier this month, attorneys representing the mall asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, describing the shooting as a “spur of the moment dispute between two groups who appeared to have a personal grudge against each other,” as they were passing each other, such that there was insufficient time to prevent the incident. Attorneys said the family’s damages, “if any, were caused by other parties….”

According to the lawsuit, at the time of the shooting, the security group Patrol KC LLC was contracted to provide security at the mall.

Patrol KC Chief of Security Ryan Borgstadt told The Star in an email that as a subcontractor, the company doesn’t make calls on the amount of security present and is not “actually in charge of the security.” He also said the company had only been assigned to the mall for three days before the shooting.

Staff are not armed, a suggestion he said the group had made, and so the company does not engage if there’s any gun violence. The group’s primary job at the mall is to report things like petty shoplifting and falls, he said.

In the event of a shooting in the mall, he said, security’s primary job is to get patrons inside stores and to make sure stores close their security gates, as they did on the day of the shooting.

“We have made several suggestions to mall ownership but have not gotten anywhere with it,” he wrote. “We cannot just add staff without the approval of mall ownership as they ultimately make those decisions. Even if we were to add several other unarmed officers, if someone wants to bring a weapon into the mall, they are going to.”

“We cannot take pepper spray to a gun fight,” Borgstadt said.

The mall was purchased by IGP Business Group, based in California, for $57 million in 2019, according to reporting at the time of the purchase. Earlier this year, the mall was listed for sale by the real estate firm Matthews Real Estate investment Services.

The shooting

Surveillance footage of the Nov. 10 shooting showed a confrontation between two groups at the mall, according to court documents.

Karla Brown had been with one of the groups, but didn’t accompany them as they followed the other group into the breezeway where the shooting occurred. Karla was sitting on a mall chair about 30 feet away when she was shot in the head, according to Independence police.

According to court documents, an argument started after someone in the group with Karla said “hello” to the girlfriend of one of the alleged shooters. Two members of the group she was with said that man then opened fire on them and shot back into the mall before they fled for cover, according to court documents. Those two members said they were also armed, but said they did not fire.

The shooting sent afternoon shoppers scrambling for exits and drew a major police response.

MarkAnthony Greer, of Independence, was charged with second-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon following the shooting. Another man, Leandre Peterson Jr., of Independence, faces a tampering with physical evidence charge connected with the incident.

Speaking with investigators, Greer allegedly recalled being involved in an incident at the mall but said he was not armed.

Both cases are still pending in Jackson County Circuit Court.

‘We keep her with us’

In Karla’s room, tiny booties hang on a wall, a reminder of Max, Karla’s unborn son. Jennifer Brown pulled up a photo of a baby onesie that Karla had put up on a wall, the first outfit she bought for Max. She was happy about becoming a mom but knew she was young, her mom said. She had a vision of one day becoming an obstetrician-gynecologist herself, of delivering babies.

After the shooting, Max’s heartbeat was lost, and Karla was kept on life support so her organs could be donated. Jennifer Brown ticked down a list of beneficiaries: there were heart valve, skin, liver, lung and bone donations. A cornea went to a recipient overseas.

“She’s still seeing the world,” Jennifer Brown said.

As Jennifer and Christopher Brown recall their daughter’s life, one thing they remember most was her compassion.

As a child, she’d play with a classmate who had cerebral palsy, who they said others would ignore. She loved animals. She was independent, hard-headed even. Sassy with a big heart, her mother said.

Karla Brown had been diagnosed with diabetes, and insisted on managing it herself. She hadn’t graduated from high school, but worked to amass hours at IHOP and had set a goal of getting her GED. She bought cars with her own money.

“She did it all on her own,” Jennifer Brown said.

A display at the family’s home reminds the couple of their daughter every day. They see her when they head out to work in the morning, and again before they go to bed at night. They both wear lockets that contain her ashes.

“We keep her with us,” Jennifer Brown said, “every day.”

Now, they’re hoping her death, and their lawsuit, can bring some small change.

The Star’s Bill Lukitsch and Robert Cronkleton contributed to this story.