For Immediate Release
Feb. 28, 2020
Two Jackson County men, both 21, have been charged in the fatal shooting in December 2017 of Colby Stephenson outside a Blue Springs, MO, residence, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.
Taron D. Thompson, dob: 12/21/1998, and Javonte Tiger, dob: 9/11/1998, each face Murder 2nd Degree, Unlawful Use of a Weapon and two counts of Armed Criminal Action.*
According to court records filed today, Blue Springs police responded to a residence on NW 6th Street in Blue Springs. Police located the victim, a 16-year-old male, Colby Stephenson. He was found fatally shot in the front yard of a residence. Persons who had been with him told police that they were heading out of the residence in the early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2017. Initially all witnesses told police they didn’t know who shot at them, but when they left the residence they said multiple gunshots were fired. Police recovered 37 shell casings. Defendant Thompson later told police after they found a 9 mm gun in his vehicle following a stop that the gun was his. Tests of shell casings at the scene of the Dec. 18, 2017 fatal shooting showed some came from the 9 mm gun of Thompson. Witnesses also told police detectives that both defendants were at the scene of the shooting. Some described them shooting.
Prosecutors requested cash bonds of $200,000.
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.