Woman charged with fentanyl distribution in Kansas City drug raid where 3 cops were shot

Federal prosecutors have charged a 34-year-old woman with transporting over 3,700 grams of fentanyl after she was found hiding at the scene of a Kansas City police standoff where three officers were injured.

Ashley Davis is charged with possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute. Court documents allege she picked up the drugs in February after taking a trip to Lynwood, California, with 50-year-old Jimmie Lewis, Jr., who also faces charges.

The Jackson County Drug Task Force received word of the trip on Feb. 23 and obtained a search warrant of Lewis’ phone to access his location data, according to documents filed in federal court. Officers monitored Lewis’ location for days, until they observed him pulling into a home on the 2300 block of Blue Ridge Boulevard around 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 28.

After watching him pull in, officers with the Kansas City Police Department’s Tactical Response Team approached the home to execute a search warrant.

As the door was broken open with a battering ram, an officer was struck by gunfire coming from the area of the door and window, according to court documents. Officers returned fire, and two other officers were also shot, authorities said.

The injured officers were transported with non-life threatening injuries. They have since been released from the hospital.

Police surrounded the home for 18 hours, attempting different tactics to communicate and diffuse the situation.

At one point during the barricade, officers deployed gas in the home. Lewis then exited through the basement’s rear door, as did another man, who was “determined not to be involved in the assault,” according to court documents.

Federal prosecutors brought charges against Lewis stemming from a November 2021 arrest in which he was accused of possessing 400 grams of methamphetamine and a firearm.

Lewis has been charged with distribution-level drug possession and two gun crimes. In a motion seeking to hold Lewis without bail before trial, federal prosecutors said he is a suspected “high-level member” of a drug trafficking organization.

During a second attempt to enter the home, police found Davis inside, uninjured.

A man identified as Matthew Carrell was discovered dead inside.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman said in a previous statement that MSHP investigators, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office and the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded Carrell died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though investigators would continue to go through evidence to determine all that occurred inside the house when the police officers fired their service weapons.

After being taken into custody, Lewis agreed to speak with law enforcement. During an interview with police, Lewis admitted he and Davis had driven to California to meet with a supplier.

Lewis said he gave their vehicle to the supplier, and he and Davis slept in a hotel room until they received word that the vehicle had been loaded. The pair drove back to Kansas City, where Carrell was waiting for them.

In a separate interview, Davis told police Lewis had asked her to take a trip with him to California. While they were en route, Davis told police she asked Lewis, “What are we doing?” Lewis allegedly replied, “Going to pick up drugs.”

Davis said the two of them arrived at the hotel to meet the supplier. The two of them traded off driving on the way back to Kansas City, she told police.

After they pulled into the garage of the residence on Blue Ridge Boulevard, Davis said she heard a loud noise outside and was told to run inside and hide by Lewis and Carrell.

Tactical officers later found her hiding behind a basement couch.

Upon a search of the vehicle, officers found over 3,700 grams of fentanyl, 155 grams of methamphetamine and 28 grams of powder cocaine hidden inside.

Federal prosecutors filed a motion to hold Davis without bail pending trial, claiming she’s a member of a drug trafficking organization.

“Davis was aware law enforcement officers were attempting to gain entry into the residence and clear the residence of subjects inside,” the motion reads. “However, Davis never voluntarily surrendered and instead barricaded herself in the residence until officers forcibly removed her after an eighteen-hour standoff.”

Davis is set to appear in court on Wednesday.

The Star’s Glenn E. Rice, Luke Nozicka, Bill Lukitsch, Robert A. Cronkleton and Katie Moore contributed to this report.