In the early morning hours of October 23, 2017, the life of 19-year-old Zachary Thomas Murphy was cut short in North Kansas City, Missouri. A male, he was discovered on the front porch of an apartment building in the 2300 block of Oliver Drive, having sustained fatal gunshot wounds. The grim discovery was made by police officers who were responding to a call of shots fired in the area at approximately 2:46 a.m.
The investigation into the shooting death of the Gladstone teen quickly led
authorities to a suspect. Cole Walker Huff, a 21-year-old from Kansas City, was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with Murphy's death. According to court records, the violent encounter was the result of an argument between the two individuals.
Further complexities in the case emerged as it was revealed that Zachary Thomas Murphy was a person of interest in a prior, unsolved homicide. Investigators believed he had information regarding the shooting death of 22-year-old Logan C. Minton in September of 2016. Minton had been found deceased near Armour Road and Knox Street in North Kansas City in what authorities suspected was an abduction and subsequent shooting. Despite their beliefs, law enforcement officials stated that Murphy had been uncooperative in that investigation. The case of Logan Minton's death remains unsolved.
