Grandview man charged in killing of Kansas City teen during possible road rage incident
A Grandview man was charged Tuesday with killing a 15-year-old boy in a potential road rage shooting in Kansas City.
Keith D. Adkins, 32, is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, resisting arrest, two counts of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and five counts of armed criminal action, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release Tuesday.
Just before 6 p.m. Friday, police officers were dispatched to the 6000 block of East 13th Street on a reported shooting, said Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a department spokeswoman.
Officers found a young teenager, later identified as Aaron Amparan, lying in the street near a Kia Sportage that had struck a pole, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Amparan, who was suffering from gunshot wounds, was taken to a hospital where he later died.
“Aaron, my little brother, was only 15-years old, he had his life taken by cold-hearted people,” his sister wrote in a GoFundMe created to help the family pay for his burial. “He was a quiet, very loving and caring son, brother, uncle, and friend.”
A second surviving shooting victim was also found behind a nearby home, police said.
Surveillance footage from the area captured the minutes leading up to the shooting. At 5:57 p.m. the driver of the Kia Sportage, which Amparan was in, was headed southbound on White Avenue when Adkins, driving a Silverado with a female passenger beside him, stopped abruptly, according to charging documents.
The driver of the Kia swerved to the right side of the road to avoid hitting the truck.
The video then captured the truck driver, later identified as Adkins, leaning out the driver’s side window of the truck, shouting an expletive, and shooting twice at the Kia, whose driver then struck a parked truck before colliding with a pole at the intersection of 13th Street.
The surviving shooting victim, who is not identified in court records, told police that a “blacked out truck came out of nowhere and started shooting,” court records show. The victim also said they think the driver of the Silverado wanted them to move over because the Kia was in the middle of the road.
Police found two shell casings and a handgun at the scene.
They later learned the suspect’s truck was stolen. On Saturday, police saw the suspect and his female passenger in a Hyundai Santa Fe, this one also stolen, about two blocks from the homicide scene, court records show. They were unsuccessful in pulling him over.
Officers found Adkins in the Hyundai again on Sunday in Kansas City and gave chase, after they said Adkins was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic before failing to stop when officers activated their lights, court records show.
The chase continued into Independence, where Adkins reached speeds up to 108 miles per hour, police said, adding that Adkins ran several red lights and nearly crashed into numerous uninvolved vehicles. The Hyundai finally came to a stop when its tires failed. Adkins ran away on foot before police caught him.
Adkins is being held on a $500,000 cash bond.
The killing of Amparan on Friday marked Kansas City’s 160th homicide of 2023, according to data maintained by The Star.
Kansas City police continue asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or call the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS.
