KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two brothers are now facing charges in a deadly shooting that happened Thursday at an apartment complex near Swope Park.
Malik Sherman, 23, and Michael Sherman, 27, have each been charged with one count of second-degree murder, one count of kidnapping, and two counts of armed criminal action.
Police were called to the East Hills Village Apartments on Monroe Avenue just after 6 p.m. Thursday for a reported shooting. When officers arrived, they found 22-year-old Andre Tolan dead in the breezeway of an apartment building.
Three men, two of which were the Sherman brothers, were found in the area and detained.
At first, they told police they were visiting a woman in a nearby apartment and had no involvement in the man’s death. Later, their stories changed, according to police.
Surveillance video showed the brothers arriving in a car with Tolan, and then the two escorting the victim from the car to the breezeway, court records say. A few minutes later, Tolan abruptly collapses to the ground, face down, and the brothers headed to a nearby apartment.
Police found four spent shell casings in the area.
Two women in the nearby apartment said they heard gunshots, and then Malik and Michael came into the unit. The women told police the brothers stored two guns in one of the bedrooms before leaving, court documents say.
When they followed the men outside, they saw Tolan’s body and one of them called 911.
The renter gave police permission to search her apartment, and police recovered the two weapons.
In an interview with police, Michael Sherman said earlier that night, he, his brother and Tolan had been attempting a drug deal near 76th Street, according to court documents. That’s when they were allegedly approached by a man with gun and thought they were going to be robbed.
Court records say Michael fired out the back window at the unidentified man, and the three drove off toward the apartment complex.
Michael told police he thought Tolan had set them up in the robbery and considered just beating him up, but didn’t want to deal with possible retaliation. Court documents say the Sherman brothers both admitted to police that they each shot at Tolan when they arrived at the apartment complex.
Prosecutors have requested $300,000 cash bonds for both men.