On April 1, 2019, 40-year-old Michael A. Garrett was traveling as a passenger in a Ford Fusion near the intersection of East 63rd Street and Manchester Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. The vehicle, driven by a female companion, was heading east when a silver Dodge Ram pickup truck pulled up alongside them. Witnesses observed a rifle protruding from the rear driver’s side window of the truck before multiple shots were fired into the Fusion.
Garrett was struck by the gunfire and was pronounced dead at the scene, while the female driver sustained injuries and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Investigators utilized surveillance footage from the area to identify the suspect vehicle, noting a distinctive wheelchair visible in the bed of the pickup truck. The license plate information led authorities to Enterprise Rental, where records indicated the vehicle had been rented by 24-year-old Bryant E. Robinson just minutes before the shooting. The truck was returned to the rental lot shortly after the incident occurred.
Detectives uncovered a motive rooted in a prior violent encounter between the two men. Court records revealed that Robinson had been paralyzed from the chest down following a shooting in 2013. Although Michael Garrett had been identified as a suspect in that earlier case, charges were never filed because Robinson had declined to cooperate with prosecutors at the time. Authorities described the April 2019 killing as a retaliatory act linked to the previous incident.
Following the investigation, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged Bryant E. Robinson with accessory to second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and two counts of armed criminal action. At the time of the charges, police continued to seek information regarding a second individual believed to be involved in the shooting, as Robinson’s physical limitations and the nature of the attack suggested he may have had an accomplice.
