State of Missouri v. Dakkota Siders

Kansas City, Missouri second-degree murder criminal Defense lawyer represented the Defendant.

On January 16, 2019, Siders and two of his friends went to a pool hall in Sugar Creek that they sometimes frequented. J.W.[1], the general manager of the pool hall, was working that evening, and Siders asked him if he would like to accompany them to the Shady Lady nightclub in Kansas City after J.W. closed the pool hall. J.W. agreed to accompany the other three men, and they left in Siders's Kia vehicle. After the men had been at the Shady Lady for a while, someone came up to Siders and J.W. and told them that their other two companions were in an altercation in the parking lot.



Siders and J.W. left the Shady Lady and went out into the parking lot and witnessed the ongoing altercation. J.W., not wanting to be involved, got in the front passenger seat of Siders's car. J.W. saw the men with whom his companions were arguing go to their vehicle and grab guns. J.W. ducked down when he saw the guns. He heard several gunshots but did not see who fired them because he had ducked down. Siders and one of the other two companions got into the car with Siders driving. They drove at a high rate of speed, following the other vehicle, which was white, and going onto I-70. J.W. heard Siders say, "They're not gonna disrespect me like this." "Within seconds" of getting onto the interstate, J.W. saw Siders pull a gun from his waistband. J.W. saw Siders point the gun out of the car window and heard two or three shots.



Surveillance video from downtown Kansas City shows a Kia vehicle pulling up to a different white vehicle being driven by B.H. ("Victim"), who had just left her job at the nearby post office. Victim was hit by two bullets fired from Siders's vehicle. Victim's car crashed into a nearby embankment and Victim died of her injuries. Siders's vehicle immediately exited the highway after the shots were fired. The shell casings law enforcement found on the highway near Victim's car were nine-millimeter shell casings which matched those found in the Shady Lady parking lot. J.W. testified that after the shots were fired and Siders exited the highway, the group went back to an area near the Shady Lady where they picked up the fourth member of their party, and J.W. got out of the car and called someone to pick him up.



Surveillance video from various Kansas City locations also shows Siders firing shots in the parking lot of the Shady Lady and then getting into the driver's side of his Kia and driving toward I-70; Siders driving up to Victim's car, driving almost parallel to it and then exiting onto Harrison Street while Victim's car travels off the road; Siders's vehicle is then captured on cameras driving erratically and heading east, on several different streets. The Kia was picked up on two different license plate reading cameras, and Department of Revenue records identified the vehicle as belonging to Siders, and it was registered to an address in Independence.



After Victim's death, police fairly quickly obtained the relevant surveillance footage and recovered the shell casings from both shooting locations; by later that day, officers conducted surveillance of Siders's Independence residence. While police were watching, Siders arrived at his residence in his Kia and went inside. Siders exited the

residence a short time later, and officers arrested him and searched his person. During the search of his person the officers found two firearms, one of which was a nine-millimeter handgun.



Subsequently, officers applied for and obtained a search warrant for Siders's residence, where a .45 caliber pistol was found. Siders was originally charged with first-degree murder for shooting Victim; unlawful use of a weapon for shooting from a motor vehicle and causing death; two associated counts of armed criminal action; three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm for the three different handguns found in the searches of Siders and his residence while Siders was a convicted felon; delivery of a controlled substance for possessing more than thirty-five grams of marijuana with intent to deliver it; and unlawful use of a weapon for possessing a firearm while also possessing marijuana.

Affirmed.



State v. Siders, WD85549 (Mo. App. Sep 10, 2024)