A Jackson County grand jury has formally indicted a 28-year-old Kansas City man in connection with the August shooting death of a woman outside an auto parts store near Independence Avenue, eliminating the need for a preliminary hearing and clearing the case for a jury trial. Naim Wasilah Coody Burnett now faces one count of second-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and third-degree domestic assault.
The indictment, filed Thursday, November 5, follows charges that Jackson County prosecutors first filed against Burnett back in August, according to FOX4KC.com. The underlying case stems from a shooting that the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office says occurred near Independence Avenue and Van Brunt Boulevard on Aug. 2, when officers responded and located a woman suffering from gunshot trauma. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Surveillance Video Allegedly Shows Gunfire Into a Crowd
According to court records, the shooting happened just before 4 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2, in Kansas City’s Historic Northeast neighborhood, where officers found an unresponsive woman in the parking lot of an auto parts store before medics pronounced her dead from her injuries. A detective’s account of surveillance footage, laid out in the Jackson County complaint, describes Burnett raising his left arm and beginning to fire shots into the crowd of people gathered nearby.
The prosecutor’s office says Burnett opened fire into the crowd and struck the victim, and that at least two people fired back toward him in response. Court documents state that a witness had approached Burnett intending to fight before walking away, and that Burnett opened fire as the witness left. FOX4 Kansas City identified the woman killed as 33-year-old Kierra McGee, while The Kansas City Star reported her age as 35; the outlets have not reconciled the discrepancy.
Domestic Assault Allegations Tied to the Same Night
Court records say surveillance video and witness reports indicate Burnett had an altercation with a former partner around the same time. The Jackson County complaint alleges Burnett broke his former partner’s car window and, according to the woman’s account to detectives, entered her vehicle, went through her belongings, and struck her in the face with his handgun. Those allegations form the basis of the third-degree domestic assault charge included in both the original filing and the new indictment.
The Prosecutor’s Office said it filed the original charges on Aug. 14 and unsealed the case in an effort to help the Kansas City Police Department track Burnett down. He was ultimately taken into custody on Oct. 13, according to court records, and is now held at the Jackson County Detention Center. A Jackson County judge set his bond at $150,000 cash-only.
What Comes Next in the Case
The grand jury indictment approves Burnett for a jury trial and removes the need for a preliminary hearing, a procedural step that typically narrows the path toward trial proceedings. He is scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 9:30 a.m. in Jackson County court.
The Prosecutor’s Office has emphasized that the charges remain accusations only, stating that Burnett is presumed innocent unless and until he is found guilty or pleads guilty. The Kansas City Star has noted that this killing marked the city’s 77th homicide of 2026, compared with 100 recorded by the same point in 2025.
