A 22-year old Kansas City man pled guilty on Aug. 18 to a February drug-related murder of a 20-year-old man in Kansas City’s Northland.
Darius D. Miller pled guilty to second degree murder, delivery of a controlled substance, and armed criminal action in Platte County.
Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said, “Kansas City is on pace for a record number of homicides, and this senseless killing is a sad reminder that violence associated with drugs is not confined to the urban core. Drugs and violence are hurting all of us who live and work throughout the entire Kansas City metro area.”
On Feb. 16, 2020, at approximately 9 p.m., Kansas City Police Department officers went to the Northland Passage apartments on North London Avenue in Kansas City in response to numerous 911 calls reporting gunshots.
Upon arrival, they found the body of Kiran Logan, of Kansas City, Kansas, face down in the grass by the apartment with a gunshot wound to his back.
Miller, who was on the balcony of his apartment, told officers, “I am the shooter. I shot him.”
Officers found two handguns and four mason jars containing more than 150 grams of marijuana near Logan’s body. Officers determined that those handguns had not been fired. However, they located nine 9mm cartridge casings in the grass below Miller’s balcony.
After obtaining a search warrant, officers found three more casings on the balcony. They found a 9mm handgun inside the apartment. They also located an assault rifle and $720 in cash in Miller’s bedroom.
Miller’s roommate told officers that he was playing a video game in his room when he heard something in the living room. He saw the victim waving a silver handgun back and forth telling Miller not to move. The roommate shut his door and later heard several gunshots coming from the balcony. He then saw Miller walk in from the balcony holding a handgun.
Logan’s phone was taken to the Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory in Kansas City, and forensic examiners found approximately 30 instant messages and several phone calls between Logan and Miller. The instant messages revealed Miller was going to sell Logan several ounces of marijuana. The instant messages and phone call records had been deleted from Miller’s phone.
Zahnd said, “Too many young people are suffering violent deaths over small amounts of drugs. And to those who think they can ignore the problem because it won’t affect their neighborhood, I say ‘wake up.’ We all have to come together as city, state, and nation to change the culture that is resulting in record homicides.”
Miller will be sentenced by Judge James Van Amburg on October 6, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. Pursuant to the plea agreement with the State of Missouri, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the Kansas City Missouri Police Department, the Kansas City Police Department Crime Laboratory, and the Heart of America Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory. It was prosecuted by First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Mark L. Gibson and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jaclyn Taylor.