Riverside I-635 Shooter Gets Maximum 15 Years After Chasing Woman With Rifle

A Kansas City man who opened fire with an assault rifle on a woman driving on Interstate 635 near the Argosy Casino in Riverside, Missouri has been sentenced to 15 years in prison — the maximum penalty available under Missouri law for the crime he pleaded guilty to. Davion Gunion, 25, pleaded guilty in June to felony first-degree assault for the January 10, 2021 shooting, and a judge handed down the top end of the sentencing range at his hearing.

According to KCTV, the victim testified that she realized a red car was following her, stopped at a QuikTrip to lose the car, and was then followed by the red car and a tow truck, whose occupants accused her of stealing items at a party before threatening her with weapons, including an assault rifle. Gunion began shooting at her as she drove, and the outlet reports she testified she had to steer the car from the floorboard as bullets struck the vehicle, hitting the driver's side and the driver's-side headrest. She managed to stop at a QuikTrip, and law enforcement later recovered shell casings on the road at the shooting site.

City of Riverside history records that the city has a new I-635 interchange and that its Public Safety facility, completed in 2004, features a 911 dispatch center.

Why 15 Years Was the Legal Ceiling

Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 565.050, first-degree assault is classified as a Class B felony carrying a range of five to 15 years in prison, according to Rose Legal Services. That means Gunion's 15-year term represents the absolute statutory maximum a court could impose for this tier of the offense — the charge becomes a Class A felony carrying 10 to 30 years or life if the defendant actually inflicts serious physical injury or the victim qualifies as a special victim.

The sentence also carries a steep parole condition. Because first-degree assault is designated a “dangerous felony” under Missouri Revised Statutes § 558.019, Gunion will not be eligible for parole until he has served at least 85 percent of his sentence, or roughly 12 and three-quarters years, per FindLaw Caselaw.

Prosecutor Points to a Rising Pattern

Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd, who prosecuted the case, said shootings like this seem to be happening with much more frequency, per the same KCTV account. Zahnd added that he hopes the maximum sentence will send a message that crimes like this will not be tolerated in Platte County.

Zahnd's comments arrive amid broader regional alarm over highway violence. The Kansas City metro saw heightened law enforcement scrutiny after a series of highway shootings in June 2026 that involved police and the FBI and drew national attention, including shootings along I-70 and I-670, according to ABC News. Academic research on Kansas City public safety has also noted that random highway shootings along regional interstates have periodically plagued the metro for over a decade, an issue that received national coverage in 2014.

According to the Jackson County Prosecutor, Mohammed Whitaker, 30, pleaded guilty to 20 felony charges tied to a series of 2014 Kansas City-area highway shootings and will serve 30 years.

A Prosecutor's Office With a History of Tough Sentences

The Riverside QuikTrip where the victim sought refuge has its own violent history: a Platte County Circuit Court jury convicted a 55-year-old man of second-degree murder in June 2026 for a fatal shooting at that same gas station in October 2021, according to a report shared in a local Facebook group tied to The Platte County Landmark. That case is separate from Gunion's, but underscores a location that has seen more than one act of gun violence.

Zahnd's office has pursued severe sentences in other first-degree assault cases as well. In July 2025, prosecutors secured a 20-year prison term against a Riverside man who pleaded guilty to first-degree domestic assault for a 2019 attack that left the victim with a traumatic brain injury. Platte County prosecutors also filed murder charges last year against a 34-year-old Kansas City man in a separate fatal road-rage shooting on Interstate 29 that killed local sports journalist Dennis Sharkey Jr., a case detailed by Awful Announcing.

Zahnd, first elected in 2002, announced in April that he will retire at the end of this year after 24 years in office, according to The Platte County Citizen. The report also describes his office and its work.

Missouri appellate courts have addressed issues involving guilty pleas and parole consequences, per FindLaw Caselaw. The sources establish that the 85-percent rule applies to dangerous felonies but do not establish what was discussed during Gunion's plea process.