On the morning of February 5, 2019, tragedy struck in the Crossroads District of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, when 40-year-old male Michael E. Bryan was found deceased on a sidewalk. Shortly after 5:00 a.m., police officers were dispatched to a Windstar gas station located at the intersection of 17th Street and Grand Boulevard following reports of a shooting.
Upon arrival, responders discovered Bryan suffering from fatal gunshot wounds outside the business.
Investigators turned to surveillance footage from the gas station to piece together the events leading up to the homicide. The video captured a brief interaction between Bryan and another man on the north side of the property. As the encounter ended, Bryan attempted to walk away from the individual. The footage then showed the man drawing a firearm and shooting Bryan in the back. Before the violence ensued, the surveillance camera recorded the suspect blowing his nose into a tissue and discarding it in the parking lot, a detail that would prove pivotal to the case.
Detectives recovered the used tissue from the scene and submitted it for forensic analysis. They also located a backpack and a jacket abandoned in a nearby alley. The investigation gained significant momentum when DNA extracted from the discarded tissue matched that of Timothy R. Fernandez. Further forensic testing linked a fingerprint found on an item inside the recovered backpack to Fernandez as well. Additionally, ammunition discovered within the bag was determined to be the same caliber as a bullet retrieved from the victim's jacket.
Fernandez was subsequently arrested and charged in connection with the killing. In October 2020, a Jackson County jury initially found him guilty of second-degree murder and armed criminal action, though he was later granted a motion for a new trial. The case returned to court in April 2022 for a bench trial, where a judge once again convicted Fernandez on both counts. In July 2022, Timothy Fernandez received a sentence of 27 years in prison for the murder charge and a concurrent term of five years for armed criminal action.
