KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged three men with several felonies Thursday, claiming they took part in multiple gang-related shootings back in July.
According to Prosecutor Melesa Johnson, Alexis Vega-Martinez, Julian Chavarria and Antonio Lopez-Hernandez are all facing one count of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of armed criminal action for crimes committed from July 12-13.
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Chavarria and Lopez-Hernandez are each facing an additional charge of first-degree property damage.
According to court records, Kansas City police were called to investigate three separate shootings between the evening of July 12 and the morning of July 13.
A probable cause statement claims that police responded to the first call at 6 p.m. on July 12. A man reported that he was inside a home when he thought he heard fireworks outside. He then discovered that his car and another part of his property had been damaged by gunfire.
The man told police he did not know who or why someone targeted his home, court records say.
Footage from a nearby home’s surveillance footage showed a gray Hyundai Accent with tinted windows driving around the area and reportedly shooting at the victim’s car. The Hyundai was then seen leaving the scene.
Hours later, at about 12:15 a.m. on July 13, officers were called to another home for a shooting call.
Investigators say three people were inside the home when the shooting took place; however, none were injured.
The victims told police they heard gunshots and then quickly discovered their home had been damaged by gunfire, court records say.
While canvassing for witnesses and other victims, another person told police he had been sitting on the front porch of a nearby home when he saw three individuals walking around the area.
He told police he saw one of the men carrying a gun and decided to go back inside his home because he had heard about the previous shooting incident that night on his block.
According to court records, once he got inside, the man heard gunshots. He then found damage to the exterior wall and window of his house.
Three hours later, at about 3:40 a.m., Kansas City police were called to another shooting at a separate home.
Similar to the previous shootings, no victims were injured, despite there being multiple people inside the home. At this specific home, though, investigators found damage to the bedroom window of the victims’ two children. They were inside their room at the time of the shooting.
Later that morning, officers were called to yet another home, where eight people, including three juveniles, had been inside when gunfire rang out, court records say.
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Investigators reported finding both the home and two parked vehicles with damage consistent with gunfire.
Lastly, court records say the owners of another parked car had called police to report damage from gunfire at the same time as one of the earlier shootings.
Throughout the investigation, police recovered 137 total spent shell casings from the scenes. According to court records, many of the calibers matched the other shootings and were consistent with the same weapons.
All of the suspects were later identified by surveillance footage, witness testimony, or crime scene analysis. Court records say detectives were able to identify some of the suspects by using the shell casings and linking them to guns, which were tied to previous shooting incidents.
The names associated with guns led to further investigations, where detectives were able to find the suspects’ social media profiles. On the profiles, investigators claim some of the men had posted images of themselves with the same guns that were linked to the crimes. The first post was made on July 12, the night of the first shooting, and ended on Aug. 9.
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According to court records, the crimes are potentially linked to gang-related activity. It was listed in the documents that Chavarria and Lopez-Hernandez were either members or associates of the 18th Street gang.
They also claimed that the men had previously been linked to crimes associated with gang-related crimes.
At this time, Chavarria is being held at the Jackson County Detention Center on a $150,000 cash bond, while Vega-Martinez and Lopez-Hernandez are being held without bond.
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