Friday, Nov. 06, 2009
KC teen found guilty in ’08 fatal shooting
By TONY RIZZO
The Kansas City Star
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ReprintWhen the shooting started, Dion Wiley ducked for cover behind a car.
As more shots exploded from closer behind him, Wiley, 20, turned to look over his shoulder just as a bullet tore through his head, ending his life.
On Friday, a teenager who fired that fatal shot was found guilty of felony murder, second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and three counts of armed criminal action in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Kevin D. Roberts, 18, of Kansas City testified he never saw Wiley or another young man he shot in the leg on Sept. 29, 2008, outside a banquet hall near 87th Street and Interstate 435.
Roberts and Wiley were among several hundred people outside the banquet hall when someone began firing a semiautomatic rifle. Three people were wounded in that volley.
Roberts testified Thursday he took cover then pulled out his 9mm handgun and began firing toward the muzzle flashes of the rifle. He said he was trying to protect himself and the friends who were with him.
“It happened so fast, and I was scared,” he said.
Kansas City police officers who had arrived before the shooting arrested Roberts. The person who had been firing the rifle escaped.
Defense attorney Dan Ross argued to jurors that Missouri law allowed Roberts to use deadly force to protect himself or others. He said if Roberts had been able to shoot the person firing the rifle, he would have been considered a hero. Ross said that if the officers and armed security guards present had fired at the shooter, it would have been considered justified.
But Assistant Prosecutor Theresa Crayon said the officers did not fire because it would have been reckless. She argued Roberts’ actions that night were unlawful, unreasonable and unnecessary.