For Immediate Release
Sept. 26, 2018
A 20-year-old Blue Springs man is the second defendant charged in the Sept. 18, 2018, fatal shooting of Mary Schmitz in Independence, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.
Michael A. Lora, dob: 1/26/1998, faces Murder 2nd Degree, Assault 1st Degree and two counts of Armed Criminal Action.*
According to court records filed today, Independence police officers responded to the 1100 block of Quail Creek Drive in Independence in the early morning of Sept. 18, 2018 on a report of shots fired. At the scene, they heard yelling. Through a window they saw the homicide victim on the floor in the dining room. The occupants of the apartment came out. Police also found a man in a bedroom who had been shot. He was transported to a hospital. A German Shepherd had also been killed. A co-defendant already charged in the shooting told a source in the Jackson County Detention Center that he may have to roll on Lora. Another witness identified the defendant as one of the shooters of Mary Schmitz.
Prosecutors requested for Lora a bond of $500,000 cash only. The defendant was taken into custody earlier today.
For more information, contact:
Michael Mansur
Director of Communication
Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office
Jean Peters Baker, Prosecutor
Work : (816) 881-3812
Mobile: (816) 674-3954
mmansur@jacksongov.org
http://jacksoncountyprosecutor.com
*Charges are only accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until the defendant is either found guilty or has pleaded.