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Three charged in shooting that left one dead in parking lot of Kansas City market

Three people have been charged with murder following a drive-by shootout in the parking lot of a corner market in Kansas City’s Oak Park Southeast neighborhood that left one person dead.

Bonzel Fowler, 28, Byron Fowler, 30, and Tateona Jackson-Williams, 27, each face counts of second-degree murder, unlawful weapon use and armed criminal action in the killing of Edmon E. Alexander, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement Wednesday night. Alexander, 32, was fatally shot Friday night after he told a store cashier that he had been the victim of an attempted robbery, according to court records.

Kansas City police were dispatched around 7:40 p.m. to the Blue Valley Market in the 4300 block of Cleveland Avenue on a reported shooting. Arriving officers found the victim suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken by ambulance to an area hospital and died there.

According to court records, detectives reviewed surveillance video from the store that showed a person in a gray Nissan exchanging words with Alexander in the parking lot after he dropped a considerable amount of cash on the ground while walking toward the store. As the Nissan began to leave the lot, Alexander then was seen retrieving a gun from his car, walking in the direction the car traveled and firing gunshots to the west, court records state.

In the store, a witness overheard Alexander saying to a cashier that the three people in the car had tried to rob him. A friend of Alexander arrived at the store and met him inside.

They talked there before leaving the market together. As they were standing near Alexander’s car in the parking lot, a car matching the description drove through and two people fired at the men from its passenger side, court records state.

Police tracked the car by its license plate number to an address for Bonzel Fowler. Undercover detectives surveilled him until they saw Bonzel Fowler, his brother Byron Fowler, and his wife Jackson-Williams leave the residence together and get in the suspect vehicle, court records state.

During an interview with police, Bonzel Fowler said words had been exchanged after Alexander dropped money on the ground after Alexander “dared somebody to try and take it.” Bonzel Fowler told them as they were driving away his child’s diapers had fallen from the car and that Alexander had shot at them.

In the interview, Bonzel Fowler allegedly admitted to returning to the area with his brother and wife after dropping his children off. But he told police they only fired the gunshots at Alexander in self-defense. He allegedly told investigators they “knew they should turn themselves in but were waiting,” an investigator wrote in charging documents.

Police were able to recover one of the firearms apparently used in the shooting based on information Bonzel Fowler provided, according to court records.

Kansas City police are investigating the shooting death of a man found in the parking lot of a corner market.
Kansas City police are investigating the shooting death of a man found in the parking lot of a corner market.