A young Kansas City man who carried his gun in a green teddy bear backpack to the Chiefs Super Bowl parade was sentenced Friday to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a lesser weapons charge.
Terry Young, 21, shackled and wearing an orange jumpsuit, quietly pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon as the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan watched in Jackson County court. Lopez-Galvan, 43, was killed and another 23 people were injured in the Feb. 14, 2024, mass shooting.
Jackson County Judge Michelle Cocayne sentenced Young, giving him credit for the time he has already served in the Jackson County Detention Center since his arrest in March 2024. He could be released soon.
Young, whose family sat on the opposite side of the courtroom, was originally charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. All except the firearm charge were dropped as part of the plea bargain.
Adriana Galvan, Lopez-Galvan’s 20-year-old daughter, cried as she talked about her mom’s death, saying it has caused a “lifetime of pain for my family.”
“We live with the flashbacks of the shooting and waking up every day knowing she won’t be there,” Galvan said. “A part of me died that day with my mom.”
The outcome of Young’s case was the same as that of Dominic Miller, 20, who was sentenced in March to two years as part of his plea deal that called for him to plead guilty to the weapons charge.
Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson defended Miller’s case — and now Young’s — as dependent on Missouri’s “Stand Your Ground” defense, which says a person can fire back if he feels threatened or in defense of someone else.
“While we are not satisfied with today’s outcome and share in the disappointment expressed by Lisa’s family, our duty requires us to continually evaluate each case under the constraints of existing law to determine a resolution commensurate with each defendant’s conduct,” Johnson said in a statement.
“This case like many others, highlights the significant restrictions that Missouri’s self-defense and defense-of-others laws place on our ability to prosecute conduct that many in our community would deem unacceptable.”
Johnson pointed to the last case of a man charged in the Super Bowl shootings, saying her office “will continue to pursue justice within the bounds of the law.” Lyndell Mays, 25, is accused of starting the melee, according to police records, after two groups got into a fight about why they were staring at each other. He goes on trial in March 2027.
