Kansas City man charged in killing of beloved gym owner shot in 18th & Vine district
A man is criminally charged in the shooting death of a beloved personal trainer gunned down in Kansas City’s 18th & Vine district last month, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced Thursday.
Jerronn Anderson, 29, faces charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of 34-year-old Gary Taylor, the prosecutor’s office announced Thursday afternoon. Standing beside members of Taylor’s family, Baker praised the actions of investigators and said she hopes her office may swiftly deliver “a measure of justice” in the case.
Taylor, a father of three and the owner of Power House Fitness, was killed on April 25. He was among four people shot during a bout of gunfire in an area that is a historic mainstay of Kansas City.
After the charges were announced, his girlfriend Rashouna Harris told The Star they bring the family some peace.
“We can now tell his children that their father’s unfortunate murder did not fall by the wayside like unfortunately so many others, thank you God,” Harris said.
Speaking on behalf of his children and other family, Taylor’s mother Latrice Carroll said they are “tremendously grateful” for the actions that led to an arrest in his killing.
“Sunday dinners will never be the same without him,” she said. He had been there the day he was killed.
Shooting in 18th & Vine district
Officers were called just after 10 p.m. to the intersection of 18th and Vine streets on a call of gunshots on April 25. When they arrived, they found four shooting victims including Taylor near 19th and Vine streets.
Emergency medical personnel tried to save Taylor’s life at the scene, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later, Officer Donna Drake, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department, said shortly after the shooting took place.
Detectives reviewed video from different cameras that showed Taylor walking south on Vine Street with two of his friends in the moments before the shooting, according to charging documents.
As the three friends got closer to 19th Street, Anderson approached, pulled out a handgun and allegedly shot Taylor, who fell to the ground. Taylor’s friends then pulled out guns and started shooting toward Anderson. One of the friends later told police he’d never seen Anderson before.
Detectives in video footage saw Anderson running north on Vine Street with “visible difficulties” before disappearing from view.
About two minutes later, a tan Chevy pickup left a parking lot near 19th Street, court records show. Video footage showed someone lying in the bed of the truck.
The same truck arrived at a hospital about three minutes later. Anderson was seen getting out of the bed of the truck, and checking himself into the hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg.
Anderson told medical staff that he was shot in the area of 39th Street and Topping Avenue, but police never found a crime scene in the area, according to charging documents.
Detectives were later told Anderson left the hospital “against medical advice prior to the completion of his treatment.”
The witness who drove Anderson to the hospital told police that he was gambling on a dice game with Anderson’s brother when he heard gunshots. Then Anderson appeared with a gunshot wound. The witness agreed to take him to the hospital.
Anderson was arrested Wednesday afternoon, the prosecutor’s office announced. He declined to give detectives a statement.
His bond has been set at $250,000.
Details about what motivated the shooting remained unclear Wednesday.
Impact on countless lives
Taylor’s killing gripped Kansas City in the immediate aftermath of his death. Mayor Quinton Lucas, who lives in the neighborhood, toured the area the morning after Taylor and the others were shot, stopping by the blood-stained street after a morning jog.
The mayor has pointed to Taylor’s killing as yet another example showing the city’s efforts to stem violent crime have been largely unsuccessful.
“We have a problem. We have a very serious problem,” Lucas told The Star after Taylor’s killing.
Taylor, who was the 48th homicide victim in Kansas City this year, was remembered by loved ones as a gentle giant who sought to encourage those around him to become greater. As of Thursday, a total of 59 people have been killed in the city in 2021.
Alexander Taylor, Gary Taylor’s younger brother, said he wants everyone who his brother influenced to remember the way he touched their lives — and to press onward.
“Continue to do the positive things that you’re supposed to be doing,” he said. “He wouldn’t want anything more than for you to continue.”
Taylor made an impact on the lives of countless people who in the days after his death told their own stories of how Taylor’s training and motivation improved their lives.
He had talked of giving his kids, ages 12, 6 and 18 months, the opportunity to take over his business someday, Taylor’s girlfriend previously told The Star.
“We gotta take care of ourselves so that we can be here for our children and then that will teach them to also take care of themselves,” Taylor used to say.
The Star’s Glenn E. Rice contributed.
