On August 20, 2017, police in Kansas City, Missouri, discovered the body of 41-year-old Robert Eugene Exford Jr. following reports of a shooting. Officers were dispatched to the area near 33rd Street and Wabash Avenue around 12:45 a.m., where they found the male victim deceased inside a vehicle. Investigators determined that he had sustained fatal gunshot wounds in what appeared to be a drive-by attack.
At the scene, authorities recovered multiple shell casings, indicating that numerous shots had been fired at the victim's car.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the area, which captured a black Ford Edge traveling near the crime scene. The video showed a person wearing a white T-shirt climbing out of the driver's side window of the moving vehicle and firing a weapon at Exford's car. Investigators were able to read the license plate from the footage, which led them to a rental car agency. Records indicated that the vehicle had been rented by an individual who identified Ahmad R. Herring as the primary driver. When questioned, Herring admitted to driving the vehicle that evening and stated he did not allow others to use it. A search of the rental car yielded a 7.62 caliber shell casing inside.
Prosecutors initially charged 27-year-old Ahmad Herring with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and armed criminal action in September 2017. The legal proceedings continued for two years, concluding in 2019 when Herring entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of first-degree manslaughter. Consequently, a judge sentenced him to five years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for his role in the death of Robert Exford.
