Kansas City man charged in shooting at apartments that left 45-year-old resident dead
A 28-year-old man is accused of murder and three other felonies after gunshots were fired into a Kansas City apartment building last week, leaving a resident dead, Jackson County prosecutors said Friday.
Prosecutors have charged Kequan O. Herring, of Kansas City, with second-degree felony murder, unlawful weapon use and two counts of armed criminal action.
Herring allegedly fired into an apartment building in Kansas City’s Central Blue Valley neighborhood while 45-year-old Calvin L. Boyles was inside his residence in the early hours of Nov. 28.
Neighbors said Boyles was not “the intended target” of the shooting, according to a probable cause affidavit prepared by a Kansas City police detective in support of criminal charges for Herring.
Shortly after midnight, Kansas City police officers were dispatched to the shooting in the 1900 block of Park Tower Road.
Boyles was found suffering from gunshot wounds inside a residence. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives and crime scene investigators discovered 23 spent shell casings on a hill near the rear entrance of the building, where Boyles was found, the affidavit says. Apparent bullet holes were found in the walls of Boyles’ apartment.
Detectives were directed by witnesses to a woman who had been “actively feuding” with Herring for several months before the shooting.
She described a tense encounter involving Herring at a gas station in the afternoon before the shooting, during which he and others were armed with guns. She said she later learned her home and her neighbor’s car had been “shot up,” the affidavit says.
Detectives reviewed gas station surveillance footage, which allegedly shows Herring visiting the store. He and others were seen using a gray sedan, the affidavit says.
The same sedan was linked by detectives to a separate incident where gunshots were fired into a vehicle near East 23rd Street and Topping Avenue. A homeowner reported the vehicle had been shot into and the shooters fled in a gray sedan with tinted windows.
Other surveillance cameras in the area captured video of three people shooting toward the vehicle. One was wearing clothes similar to what Herring had worn at the gas station earlier in the day, the affidavit says.
Detectives obtained a license plate number for the sedan, a Chevrolet Malibu, which was registered to Herring. Automated license-plate-reading cameras recorded the vehicle being driven in the areas of the shootings, the affidavit says.
Shell casings collected from that shooting scene were tested and matched to the ones at the homicide hours later, the affidavit says.
A cellphone associated with Herring through police records and his parole officer was also determined to have been at both locations during the time period the shooting took place, the affidavit says.
Herring was arrested at his home on Wednesday by Kansas City police officers who were conducting surveillance there.
During a police interview, Herring denied any involvement with the shootings.
Herring was being held in the Jackson County jail on a $300,000 cash bond. Online court records did not list a defense attorney representing him in the case as of Friday.
