Man, 19, faces tampering charge in Independence mall shooting that killed pregnant woman
A 19-year-old Independence man is charged with tampering with evidence in a murder investigation stemming from a shooting at Independence Center last November.
Leandre Peterson Jr., 19, is accused of destroying, suppressing or concealing a gun police believe to have been involved in a Nov. 10, 2023 shooting that claimed the life of 19-year-old Karla Brown, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Tuesday.
A warrant has been issued for Peterson Jr.’s arrest.
Brown was in the mall shopping to prepare for her baby when gunfire erupted and she was hit.. A day after the shooting, her unborn son Max lost his heartbeat and she died almost a week later.
MarkAnthony Greer, 21, of Independence, faces a second-degree murder charge in the shooting. He is also charged with three counts of armed criminal action and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
The probable cause affidavit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court says the guns used were not located by police, but spent shell casings and blood samples were collected as evidence.
The shooting happened around 2:30 p.m. near the north entrance of the shopping mall after a dispute between two groups of people, police said in an affidavit.
Mall surveillance footage showed one group with Brown and the other group with Greer. The two groups came together, appearing to talk, and then one group followed the other into a breezeway between two rows of glass doors at the north entrance.
Police saw Brown sit down on a bench, and shortly after, gunfire broke out in the breezeway and Brown fell over.
According to court documents, an argument started after someone in the group with Brown said “hello” to Greer’s girlfriend.
Police said after the shooting, Brown’s group left her and fled the mall in a Ford Taurus. Police stopped the car in the parking lot of a hospital. One of the three people in the car had been shot in the leg and was taken to the hospital. The other two were taken in for questioning.
When questioned by police, two members of the group with Brown said they were armed with guns, but did not fire them. They said Greer opened fire on them and they ran inside the mall to seek cover, according to court documents.
Police said Petersen Jr. and Greer fled the shooting to a hospital in a gray Chrysler 300. Peterson was not contacted by police at the hospital and officers were unable to locate him or the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
During a police interview, Greer recalled being involved in an incident at the mall, but said he didn’t recognize any of the others involved or how he was shot in the back, according to the affidavit. He denied being armed with a gun at the time.
Greer is being held at the Jackson County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond. His pretrial conference is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2025 and a jury trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. Feb. 24, 2025.
The Star’s Robert Cronkleton, Bill Lukitsch and Andrea Klick contributed to this report.
