Two Kansas City men were convicted Friday of felony charges stemming from a January 2024 gun battle in Crown Center Shops that injured six people.
Brian Favela, 23, and Joel Olivas, 24, were convicted of two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action, as well as three misdemeanor counts of second-degree harassment.
Judge Margene Burnett dismissed additional charges of unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to find them guilty under Missouri’s self-defense laws.
Favela and Olivas, who prosecutors said are East Side gang members, will be sentenced Dec. 12.
Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said her office will hold people accountable for such violence, despite Missouri's loose gun laws.
"Today's verdict points to a level of accountability that this office will seek for individuals who engage in this kind of insidious conduct, even when the defendants are armored with Missouri's very generous self-defense laws," Baker said in a statement.
The shootings on Jan. 17 were caused by an argument between two groups of teenagers, Kansas City Police said at the time. In addition to six injured people, some businesses were damaged on Crown Center’s lower level.
