KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County prosecutors have pressed murder charges against a man whose alleged accomplice was killed during a robbery last month.
Trevor Garms, 17, was shot and killed April 9 by a homeowner in the area of 58th and Garfield. Police say Dominique Richardson, 20, was with Garms when they broke through the front door of a home and held a gun to a woman’s head.
The woman told police that while Garms and Richardson were distracted, she grabbed a gun from the closet. When Garms put the gun to her neck, she shot him once and told him to leave. Instead, the woman says Garms went for his gun and she was forced to shoot him again. In all, he was shot three times. He stumbled out of the house and collapsed on the street.
Police say when Richardson saw what happened, he ran out the back door.
FOX 4 talked to a Tracy Williams, a family friend of Trevor Garms, She doesn’t blame the woman for shooting and killing the teen after he allegedly broke into her home and held a gun to her head.
“I don’t blame her at all because she was protecting her family and her home,” Williams said. “You know she didn’t know what they were going to do to her.”
Garms older brother agrees that Richardson should be punished for his role in the home invasion. He says murder charges don’t serve anyone.
“I feel like he shouldn’t do that much time,” said the victim’s brother Gregory Barnes. “He’s still a kid. Give him some type of classes to learn from. Don’t punish him. Let him learn from his mistakes.”
Under Missouri law, Richardson is being charged with Murder 2nd Degree because police say he and Garms were involved in committing the class B felony of Burglary 1st Degree at the time that Garms was shot to death.
Prosecutors requested a bond of $150,000.
