Police say a 21-year-old man was shot to death while trying to protect his mother near 55th Street and Chestnut Avenue.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County prosecutors have charged 19-year-old Ke’Montae Phillips with second-degree murder and armed criminal action after a March 10 shooting that killed 21-year-old Richaud Conley near East 55th Street and Chestnut Avenue, where investigators say Conley was walking with his mother when gunfire erupted.

Authorities say the case matters now because charging papers lay out a focused account of how a personal dispute may have turned into a deadly public attack in early evening traffic near 71 Highway. Prosecutors say video from city cameras, dash cameras and nearby surveillance, along with license plate reader data and witness statements, helped identify Phillips. He is jailed on a $250,000 cash-only bond as the case moves toward a bond review and a preliminary hearing.

According to the probable cause statement, the conflict had been building for at least a week before the shooting. Conley’s mother told detectives her son had been having problems with the brother of his ex-girlfriend after the relationship ended. She said that during an earlier encounter, a young man confronted Conley and made harsh remarks about the breakup. During that encounter, she said, the comments became so aggressive that her son was struck in the face several times. Investigators wrote that another male was nearby carrying a rifle-style weapon before both men left. On March 10, Conley went to meet his mother near apartments in the area and appeared frightened. He told her, she said, something to the effect of, “they are following me,” though she later told police she could not get a full explanation. The pair then began walking together toward home.

Detectives say the encounter turned deadly as the two reached an intersection near 55th Street and Chestnut Avenue shortly before officers were dispatched at 5:49 p.m. The affidavit says a male who matched the person from the earlier confrontation approached on foot and said something like, “you clutching?” before pulling out a rifle-style weapon with a red laser. Police allege the gunman then opened fire with an automatic weapon at Conley and his mother. The mother told investigators her son shielded her as they ran. She said neither of them was able to use the rifle Conley had tucked into his pants, and that the weapon ended up on the ground after they fled into a nearby field. She then began CPR while neighbors came outside to watch and help. Court records say Conley was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries.

The charging document adds a dense layer of physical evidence and witness accounts. Detectives reported recovering 27 spent .300 Blackout casings and six 9 mm casings in the area, along with a spent .223 casing in the path where the victim ran. Investigators also described bullet marks in the dirt and said witnesses consistently reported hearing automatic gunfire followed by several separate shots from what sounded like a different, smaller-caliber firearm. One witness’s dash camera partly captured the shooting as the witness drove through the area. Others reported seeing a white sedan stopped nearby and two males outside it around the time of the gunfire. Another witness said a woman believed to be the victim’s mother was seen moving a rifle during the aftermath and appeared to accidentally discharge it once before continuing CPR. Police did not allege that this shot caused the fatal injuries, and the affidavit does not say whether any other person was hit.

Investigators say the case then widened from a street shooting to a reconstruction of movements around the neighborhood. The affidavit says detectives reviewed city cameras and automated license plate reader data and focused on a white Ford Fusion with a temporary Kansas tag. Police wrote that the vehicle moved through a Family Dollar parking lot around 5:28 p.m., then crossed into a Phillips 66 lot, where two young men got out. One wore red and black clothing with a black head covering, detectives said, and the other wore tan clothing and appeared to have a long object under his jacket. Investigators found that behavior suspicious because the men moved the car, entered the store, made a cash purchase and returned to the vehicle without pumping gas. The affidavit says the passenger in tan appeared to watch the intersection where Conley and his mother would later walk. Detectives also wrote that the car returned eastbound around 5:39 p.m., parked again and then moved back through the area as Conley and his mother continued on foot.

Police said more video placed a similar vehicle near the route moments before shots were heard at about 5:45 p.m. Detectives then used department records and license plate information to connect the Ford Fusion to a registered owner whose daughter, they wrote, had been documented in earlier police records as Conley’s girlfriend in 2023. That same section of the affidavit says the ex-girlfriend had a connection to apartments near the shooting scene, matching what Conley’s mother had told detectives. Investigators later obtained a search warrant for a residence of interest. Court papers say adults there surrendered with a juvenile child, and one woman told detectives she did not know anything about the homicide, though she acknowledged that Phillips drove her vehicle. The affidavit does not identify the second male seen on video, does not say whether that person has been charged, and does not describe any recovered murder weapon. Those remain major unanswered points in the public record.

When Phillips was questioned, detectives wrote, he denied involvement and said one of the men in the surveillance images looked like his twin. But the affidavit says his interview shifted when investigators showed him a photo of Conley. Detectives wrote that Phillips responded by saying it was “the guy that got murdered” before officers had identified the person in the photo as the victim. The document says he later asked only about three people: himself, the person with him at the gas station and the victim in the photo lineup. After a short time, according to the affidavit, he invoked his right to an attorney and the interview ended. Prosecutors announced the charges March 17. A judge set bond at $250,000 cash only. A bond review was scheduled for Wednesday, and a preliminary hearing is set for April 15.

The case has drawn attention because it joins a private breakup dispute with a highly public burst of gunfire on a city street, in front of family and neighbors, and because the accusation that Conley tried to shield his mother gives the court record a deeply personal center. For now, the public record shows a homicide charge, a gun case charge, a detailed affidavit built around surveillance and witness statements, and an open set of questions about the second man and any further arrests before the next court date.

Author note: Last updated April 14, 2026.