KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, man will serve a life sentence in federal prison for his role in a three-month armed robbery conspiracy that ended in a deadly officer-involved shooting in Blue Springs in 2016.
Shannon R. Thomas, 29, was found guilty in May of participating in the conspiracyand in 10 armed robberies that occurred between January and March 2016. He was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 72-year sentence, to be served consecutively.
Over the three months, Thomas and others robbed nearly 30 businesses in North Kansas City, Blue Springs, Independence, Raytown and Kansas City, Kansas.
On March 24, 2016, Thomas and two other men — Deonte J. Collins-Abbott, 25, of Grandview, and Jermon Seals of Shawnee — robbed a Walgreens at Missouri 7 and Northwest Duncan Road in Blue Springs. As Collins-Abbott and Seals were leaving the business, they were confronted by law enforcement officers. Seals turned toward the officers, pointing a gun in their direction, and officers returned fire, fatally striking Seals.
Thomas also was found guilty of 10 counts of brandishing a firearm to further a violent crime and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Collins-Abbott pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced last year to 25 years in federal prison without parole.
Parrise K. Black, 27, of Grandview; Demetrius Nelson, 26, of Kansas City, Missouri; and Kevin T. Thompson-Randell, 24, of Kansas City, Missouri, each pleaded guilty to their role in the armed robberies and are serving sentences in federal prison.
Another man, Frank A. Garner Jr., 25, of Grandview, is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
