KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Aug. 10, 2023, shooting of a 25-year-old man by Leavenworth police has been deemed justified, Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd announced Wednesday.
Leavenworth police shot Jonathan Heath-Taylor on Highway 92 near Stilings Road in Platte County.
Before the shooting, police were alerted to be on the lookout for a man (Heath-Taylor) who was involved in a domestic violence incident just before 1 a.m. in the 900 block of Columbia Avenue.
Police also specified the suspect was wanted for attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping, rape, aggravated domestic battery involving strangulation, and violation of a protection from abuse order.
When Health-Taylor was spotted by police, he fled. A chase then ensued.
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Around 1:40 a.m., officers engaged in a “high-risk stop.” Officers gave Heath-Taylor verbal commands to put his vehicle in park and exit as he was under arrest, per the investigation report.
Heath-Taylor did not comply. Instead, he fled the stop and initiated a further pursuit.
Just eight minutes later, Heath-Taylor voluntarily pulled over at Highway 92 near Stillings Road.
He complied with officers' request to put the vehicle in park and turn it off, but he did not comply with subsequent requests when he exited the vehicle.
When he exited the truck, officers noted he was holding a backpack in front of his body with both hands while facing officers, according to the report.
Officers said the man kept shaking his head and began moving his right hand in and out of the backpack.
Despite attempts to de-escalate the situation, Health-Taylor told officers to “go ahead and shoot.”
“You are going to have to shoot me, I am not going back to jail,” Heath-Taylor said per the incident report.
In response, one officer said, “Please don’t do this. It’s not worth it. … We do not want to hurt you.”
As this was ongoing, officers were concerned Heath-Taylor may be a danger to innocent bystanders as traffic approached the scene.
He was asked again to put his backpack down and turn away before he was struck with a bean-bag round.
Shortly after, Heath-Taylor quickly pulled a black object outside of his backpack and pointed it in the officers’ direction, per the report.
Due to officers believing the object was a weapon, multiple opened fire and struck Heath-Taylor.
Heath-Taylor was transported to North Kansas City Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation of the incident led detectives to interview Heath-Taylor’s father, who said he received concerning text messages before the incident.
In one of the messages, Heath-Taylor told his father he was a “lost cause,” per the report.
An autopsy discovered gunshot wounds were the cause of his death. However, the report noted toxicology testing found the presence of fentanyl and norfentanyl in Heath-Taylor’s system.
Considering the evidence laid out in Prosecutor Zahnd’s 15-page report, the shooting was deemed justified.
“Leavenworth police officers tried everything possible before discharging their weapons. In the end, to protect themselves and other motorists, they were forced to shoot Mr. Heath-Taylor," Zahnd said in a statement. "Missouri law authorizes law enforcement officers to use deadly force to protect themselves and others, and their actions were reasonable and justifiable given the circumstances.”
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