Kansas City man charged with murder in Fourth of July shooting: prosecutors

A 24-year-old man has been charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting that unfolded on the Fourth of July in Kansas City’s Kirkside neighborhood.

Jairo Daniel Garcia-Perez, 24, was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the slaying, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday night. He is accused of killing Carlos Martinez-Ramirez, 30, a man witnesses said was known to Garcia-Perez.

According to court records, Kansas City police officers were dispatched around 6 p.m. on July 4 to the 8900 block of Longview Road on a report of a person down. There they found a gunshot victim, later identified as Martinez-Ramirez, with injuries to his right arm, chest and head.

Martinez-Ramirez was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead there. At the crime scene, investigators collected 11 shell casings that all came from a 9mm firearm.

Witnesses told police Martinez-Ramirez and Garcia-Perez had worked together and had issues with one another in the past. One described seeing Martinez-Ramirez punch Garcia-Perez in the face before Garcia-Perez drew a firearm and started shooting.

Garcia-Perez allegedly fled the scene. He was taken into police custody and interviewed by detectives on Tuesday, according to court papers.

During the police interview, Garcia-Perez allegedly admitted to shooting Martinez-Ramirez. He told detectives he “used a 9mm pistol” and threw the firearm somewhere along the road as he left the shooting scene, a detective wrote in charging documents.

Court papers did not list an attorney for Garcia-Perez as of Wednesday.