On the night of August 10, 2020, officers from the Raytown Police Department responded to reports of gunfire in the 8400 block of Lane Drive, a residential area in the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri. Upon arrival at the scene around 9:20 p.m., authorities discovered a 2018 Chevy Equinox parked with its doors ajar. Inside the driver's seat of the vehicle sat 19-year-old Lucas N. Jester, a White male who had sustained fatal gunshot wounds.
Despite the arrival of emergency responders, he was pronounced dead at the scene, marking the city's third homicide of the year.
Detectives launched an investigation that quickly characterized the incident as a narcotics transaction that had turned violent. Evidence and witness statements indicated that Jester had driven to the apartment complex with an associate to sell a quantity of marijuana valued at approximately $400. Digital forensics later revealed that the meeting had been arranged via Snapchat between the occupants of the vehicle and a local teenager. As the transaction commenced, the situation escalated when the buyers, who were ostensibly inspecting the drugs, produced a firearm.
In the weeks following the shooting, prosecutors announced charges against three individuals believed to be involved in the death. Aaron Michael Hays, who had been a passenger in Jester's vehicle and fled on foot after the shots were fired, was charged with second-degree murder and delivery of a controlled substance; he reportedly admitted to police that the event was a drug deal gone bad and later received a sentence of five years probation after pleading guilty to a drug-related charge.
Authorities also identified two teenagers who allegedly met Jester to purchase the marijuana. Xzaveion King, 17, was charged with second-degree murder after telling detectives that he had arranged the meeting and that his companion had pulled the trigger. The third suspect, 17-year-old Deterice R. Doss, was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. According to court records, Doss claimed self-defense but also admitted to fleeing the scene with the weapon, while King alleged that Doss had planned to rob the victim from the outset.
