In the spring of 2014, the life of Alfadil Sabil, a 38-year-old man who had legally immigrated to the United States from Sudan five years prior, was tragically cut short. On the evening of May 4, 2014, police were called to an apartment building in the 100 block of North White Avenue in northeastern Kansas City, Missouri, following reports of gunfire. Inside one of the units, they discovered Sabil suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries. At the time of his death, Sabil was staying with friends in the apartment.
The investigation into Sabil's death unfolded over several years. Surveillance footage from the day of the shooting became a crucial piece of evidence. The video captured an earlier altercation between Sabil and another man outside the apartment building. This same man was later seen on camera walking up to Sabil's apartment door, listening for a moment, and then cocking a rifle before opening fire. The footage showed a cloud of smoke as bullets struck the door and wall, after which the shooter fled the scene.
A witness identified the man in the video as Kyle D. Whitley. The investigation further revealed that Whitley had been driven to and from the scene by another individual. The owner of the vehicle told investigators that after hearing the gunshots, he asked Whitley what had happened, and Whitley responded with a threat. Cellphone records also played a part in identifying Whitley. A woman he was with prior to the fight was recorded in a jailhouse phone call telling an inmate that she was with the inmate's brother, Kyle, and described the altercation and the subsequent killing.
In May 2019, five years after the fatal shooting, the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office announced that 30-year-old Kyle D. Whitley had been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with Alfadil Sabil's death. At the time the charges were filed, Whitley was already incarcerated in the Jefferson City Correctional Center, serving an eight-year sentence for domestic assault, possession of a controlled substance, and tampering with a motor vehicle. Prosecutors requested a cash bond of $300,000 for the new charges.
