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Teens charged after minor accident turns into road-rage murder

New York Post 23 hours ago

 

 

A pair of teens were arrested in Missouri after a minor traffic accident turned into a road-rage encounter that ended with a father of two shot to death in the street, police and witnesses said. The violence unfolded after a cream Lincoln Town Car driven by Leonard Joyner, 57, rolled back at a Kansas City intersection and tapped a Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Rafeasia Kirkland, 18, and that had Trevyon Shepheard sitting in the passenger seat, according to charging documents obtained by the Kansas City Star. Several witnesses said Kirkland and Shepheard, 19, hopped out of their SUV to meet Joyner, who also stepped out of his car. Joyner then pulled out cash and appeared to offer it to the teens ...

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Teens charged after minor accident turns into road-rage murder

By Joshua Rhett Miller

August 1, 2018 | 11:58am | Updated

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Trevyon D. Shepheard and Rafeasia Kirkland Kansas City Police Department

 

A pair of teens were arrested in Missouri after a minor traffic accident turned into a road-rage encounter that ended with a father of two shot to death in the street, police and witnesses said.

The violence unfolded after a cream Lincoln Town Car driven by Leonard Joyner, 57, rolled back at a Kansas City intersection and tapped a Chevrolet Trailblazer driven by Rafeasia Kirkland, 18, and that had Trevyon Shepheard sitting in the passenger seat, according to charging documents obtained by the Kansas City Star.

Several witnesses said Kirkland and Shepheard, 19, hopped out of their SUV to meet Joyner, who also stepped out of his car. Joyner then pulled out cash and appeared to offer it to the teens to repair the damage, but Shepheard returned to the SUV and pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun — which he used to shoot the man down in the street, police said.

Kirkland ran back to the SUV, while witnesses said Shepheard pumped several more shots into Joyner while he was on the ground.

Prosecutors claim the teens then got back into the SUV and drove off, but surveillance cameras from nearby apartments captured them as they fled, leading to their arrests. Shepheard is now facing charges of second-degree murder, armed criminal action and tampering with evidence. Kirkland was charged with tampering with evidence.

Joyner — whose funeral is scheduled for Friday, which would’ve been his 58th birthday — had planned to return home to Atlanta to spend the weekend with his two children, according to an online fundraiser set up in his memory.

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Leonard Joyner IIIGoFundMe

“I would like for Justyce and Essence to go and say a final goodbye to their dad, which would give them some needed closure to this horrific nightmare,” the website reads.

The children’s mother, Jill Martin, told the Kansas City Star that 20-year-old Essence and 23-year-old Justyce — both of whom attend Georgia State University — were looking forward to playing chess with their father this weekend. Now those plans are shelved forever.

“We’re caught up in a [murder] statistic that is so insane,” Martin told the newspaper. “It’s just crazy the times we’re in.”

Shepheard, according to police, told investigators he had been involved in a car crash and that Joyner had offered some money in return. Joyner then reached under his driver’s seat and pulled out a handgun, Shepheard said, prompting him to shoot Joyner.

Shepheard said he then took Joyner’s gun, only to realize it was either an imitation handgun or BB gun, Shepheard tossed it out of his SUV as the couple drove off, he said. Kirkland also recorded the encounter with Joyner on her cellphone, but Shepheard said they deleted the footage, court documents show.

Friends of Joyner, meanwhile, said they’re angry that a kind, “good old teddy bear” of a man had been needlessly taken from them.

“He was my first boyfriend,” Janice Shelton told WDAF. “He used to catch me lightning bugs and put them in a jar.”

Joyner’s best friend, Gary Hardin, said he still can’t process what happened.

“Why him of all people?” Hardin asked. “Something like this, I just can’t place it for somebody that didn’t do nothing. As far as the guy that did it, he was a coward.”








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