Man charged in fatal shooting at south Kansas City hotel says it was self defense
A 22-year-old man has been charged in the fatal shooting of a teenager Sunday afternoon in a south Kansas City hotel room.
Charles Greer-Johnson, of Kansas City, was charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in the killing of 18-year-old Fred Brewster Jr., according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Officers responded to the shooting before 1 p.m. at the Extended Stay hotel in the 500 block of East 105th Street, where they found Brewster suffering from gunshot wounds, according to the Kansas City Police Department. He died at the scene.
Also in the room was Greer-Johnson, who made a “spontaneous utterance” indicting to officers that he shot Brewster in self defense, a detective wrote in charging documents.
Police said they found four spent shell casings in Greer-Johnson’s pocket. Officers also saw two firearms on a table in the room.
When he was interviewed by detectives, Greer-Johnson said he fired several shots at Brewster after Brewster pointed a handgun at him. Greer-Johnson said he and another person then tried to render Brewster first aid until officers arrived.
One witness told police that Greer-Johnson shot Brewster while a toddler was standing nearby, according to a probable cause statement.
Brewster’s killing marked the 98th this year in Kansas City, according to data maintained by The Star. It was also the third homicide in the city within 15 hours over the weekend.
The city suffered 123 homicides by this time last year, which ended with the most in the city’s history in a single year at 182.
Gun violence is the subject of a statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
