For Immediate Release
Nov. 27, 2024
An Independence, MO, man has been charged with multiple felonies for the fatal shooting this week in Independence discovered after the victim's vehicle was found by Kansas City police, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.
Steven B. Rock faces Murder in the 2nd Degree, two counts of Armed Criminal Action charges, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, and Abandonment of a Corpse.*
According to court documents filed Friday, Independence Police Department officers responded on Nov. 23, 2024, to a residence on a reported shooting. Video evidence showed the victim's vehicle at the residence. Three suspects approached the vehicle. One suspect, later identified as the defendant, is shown running around the back of the vehicle. He then appears to open the driver's side door and pulls out a person, who is not moving. The defendant places him in the backseat of the vehicle. The defendant then gets in and drives away. Kansas City police later found the vehicle near Interstate 435 and Truman Road. Spent shell casings were found inside the vehicle. Police told the defendant that all involved in the fatal shooting would be charged. Talking to a caller to the jail, the defendant stated: "The others don't deserve that. It's me."
Prosecutors asked for a $250,000 cash bond.
A second defendant in this case has been charged with Abandonment of a Corpse.*
An investigation of this shooting continues.
For more information, contact:
Michael Mansur
Director of Communication
Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office
Jean Peters Baker, Prosecutor
(816) 881-3812
(816) 674-3954
mmansur@jacksongov.org
https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com
*Charges are only accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until the defendant is either found guilty or pleads guilty.