KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas City, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing a firearm that was used in the shooting of a 14-year-old girl five days earlier.
Tyron Young, 28, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, to nine years and seven months in federal prison without parole. The court ordered the federal sentence to be served consecutively to any sentence Young receives in a pending state case in which he has been charged with shooting the 14-year-old victim.
On Nov. 21, 2016, Young pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. At yesterday’s sentencing hearing, the government introduced evidence that Young possessed the firearm in connection with the commission of another crime, assault with intent to murder. Young has been charged in the Circuit Court of Jackson County with two counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon (discharging a weapon at a habitable structure) and assault related to the May 11, 2016, shooting.
Evidence introduced in the sentencing hearing indicates that Young climbed onto the back deck of the victim’s home and fired several gunshots through the victim’s bedroom window. The victim, who was in bed, was struck in the leg and suffered a fracture that required two surgeries (in which an intramedullary rod and three locking screws were implanted) and extensive rehabilitation. The bullet that struck the victim fragmented and consequently, some metal bullet fragments remain in the victim’s leg after surgery. According to testimony, the victim’s brother was actually the intended target for the retaliatory shooting.
According to court documents, Kansas City police officers attempted to stop Young, a documented 57th Street gang member with eight active warrants, on May 16, 2016. Young, driving a Dodge Dart, refused to stop after the officers activated their lights and sirens, and instead began driving at a high rate of speed through a residential neighborhood in the area of 57th Street and Wabash. A police pursuit was not initiated due to public safety concerns, however, an area canvass was immediately initiated for Young and the vehicle.
Officers saw Young walking away from the vehicle at 60th Street and Wabash. When Young saw the officers, he began to flee on foot, but was apprehended. A loaded Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handgun was found lying on the ground in the area where Young had been seen. Young later confessed that he had the firearm in the vehicle with him and threw it down before the police arrested him.
A Kansas City Police Crime Laboratory forensic specialist compared the Taurus handgun that Young possessed on May 16, 2016, to the five spent 9mm caliber cartridge cases and two spent bullets recovered by police from the shooting victim’s home on May 11, 2016. After analysis, the forensic specialist concluded that all five cartridge cases were fired from Young’s firearm. The forensic specialist also determined that one of the spent bullets had likewise been fired from the same Taurus. The analysis on the remaining spent bullet was inconclusive.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Young has a prior felony conviction for attempted robbery.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad K. Kavanaugh. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
