KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Prosecutors announced charges against a man suspected of shooting and killing Steven L. Jones outside of a Raytown, Mo., school on Thursday, Feb. 20.
Falonzo Davis, 42, has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in Jones’ death.
According to court records, Davis was upset that Jones was seeing his wife. Davis said he bought a gun from a pawn shop, and after learning Jones would be at his children’s school on Thursday, Davis said he went and waited for him. Court records indicate Davis ran up to Jones’ vehicle and fired multiple times, killing him.
Criminal defense attorney Michael Page, who’s not involved in this case, says while this may be a passionate situation, this is not a passionate crime.
“I’m sure he was overcome with passion, but under the law that doesn’t really help him out in this situation,” Page said.
Related: Man shot, killed in car outside Raytown school
Page said that given the setting in which the incident happened, Davis’ attorneys may face a steep challenge.
“Given the facts in this case, if you’re a defense attorney, it’s going to be a tough situation because you’ve got kids, you’ve got a school, you’ve got a ton of different kids,” Page said. “Depending on what time of day at school its going to be really heartbreaking to have this murder happen right in front of a bunch of kids, especially if there was a kid in the car too. Its not something you want to take in front of a jury in this situation.”
The building at 10750 E. 350 Highway houses the Raytown Education Conference Center as well as the technology department and The Success Academy, where children in kindergarten through 12th grade are taught.