Man charged with murder for allegedly shooting and killing stepsons in Independence home
A man was charged Friday with second-degree murder for allegedly shooting and killing his stepsons last week in an Independence home.
Terrill S. Anderson, 40, of Independence was also charged with voluntary manslaughter and two counts of armed criminal action for allegedly killing 23-year-old Adonis Knight and 30-year-old Mario Betraz after an argument in a home north of Blue Springs Lake.
Officers responded around 8:25 p.m. to a home in the 21100 block of East 50th Terrace Drive South, where a 911 caller said her husband had shot her sons, said Officer Jack Taylor, a spokesman for the Independence Police Department.
When police arrived, they found Knight and Betraz dead on the kitchen floor with four shell casings near them and an additional four in the kitchen trash can, according to charging documents.
Police escorted three of the defendant’s children, who were in upstairs bedrooms during the shooting, from the home.
Officials obtained surveillance footage from inside the home that showed assaults in the sub-basement and the door to the garage, according to charging documents.
Then, Anderson could be seen holding a handgun in his left hand approaching the stairs, where the mother was holding one of her sons back, according to charging documents. The other son was in the kitchen, looking at his phone.
Anderson allegedly moved to the base of the stairs and fired what appeared to be one or two warning shots at the kitchen ceiling.
According to charging documents, the mother continued to block her son while he appeared to yell at Anderson from the top of the stairs.
The mother escorted her sons out of the home, but they reentered shortly after, because one of them didn’t have his car keys. Anderson allegedly entered the kitchen, and the mother tried to block her son from him again.
Reaching around his mother, one of the sons tried to hit Anderson.
As the son tried to strike Anderson a second time, Anderson allegedly shot him, causing him to fall to the ground. Then, court documents say Anderson shot the other son, who was standing nearby and never seemed to threaten Anderson. He also fell to the ground and landed face down.
Anderson allegedly shot both sons several more times while they were on the ground. He also allegedly stomped on one of the victims.
Neither man appeared to be a threat to Anderson after the initial shots were fired and neither were armed when they were shot, according to court documents.
Anderson is being held on a $250,000 bond.
