Jackson County prosecutors charge man in fatal July shooting in Kansas City’s Midtown
A Kansas City man is charged with murder in a mid-July shooting that left a 47-year-old dead.
Jackson County prosecutors charged Dynell R. Jones, 38, of Kansas City, with second-degree murder, unlawful weapon use, unlawful firearm possession and two counts of armed criminal action in the July 13 shooting death of Juan Zollar. Jones was being held in the Jackson County jail on a $250,000 cash bond Monday.
On the afternoon of the shooting, Kansas City police officers near Linwood Boulevard and Troost Avenue were flagged down by the driver of a black SUV. She told them a passenger in the vehicle had been shot in a parking lot in the Southmoreland neighborhood, roughly 16 blocks to the southwest.
Zollar was taken to the hospital and died there shortly after. Other 911 calls from around the same time led police to a shooting scene at an Office Depot parking lot at 42nd and Main streets.
The driver who flagged down police officers said Zollar had instructed her to “pull up” on a group of people in the parking lot. He got out of the car, she said, and yelled something to the effect of “I got something for you.”
She said he was “reaching for a knife but didn’t have it out,” according to court documents, and briefly exited her vehicle but never approached the group. She said he was shot as he was getting back into the SUV and after he had closed the door.
Another witness interviewed by police was a construction worker assigned to the Main Street Streetcar expansion. He said he heard two gunshots coming from the area of the Office Depot before a black SUV, which had two apparent bullet holes in its windshield, sped away from the parking lot.
During a police interview July 20, Jones said he was with friends and his girlfriend in the back parking lot of the Office Depot when an SUV pulled up in a threatening manner. He allegedly admitted to shooting Zollar with a friend’s gun, but said he did so fearing Zollar was going to harm his girlfriend and others.
Other witnesses told police Zollar exited the SUV with something in his hand and was aggressive with the group before Jones shot him.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the area, including a nearby Starbucks and a building owned by The Kansas City Art Institute. Recorded video allegedly shows Jones and others in the area at the time of the shooting.
As of Monday, online court records did not list a defense attorney for Jones. He made his initial appearance in Jackson County Circuit Court on Monday afternoon.
