On the evening of October 29, 2023, 23-year-old Adonis Laurence Knight and his older brother were fatally shot during a domestic disturbance at a residence in Independence, Missouri. Officers from the Independence Police Department were dispatched to the home in the 21100 block of East 50th Terrace Drive South around 8:30 p.m. after receiving a 911 call from the victims' mother, who reported that her husband had shot her two sons.
Upon arrival, authorities discovered Knight and his 30-year-old brother, Mario Batrez, deceased inside the kitchen area of the house.
Investigators determined that an altercation had occurred earlier that evening involving the brothers and their stepfather, identified as 40-year-old Terrill S. Anderson. According to court documents, surveillance footage from inside the home captured parts of the dispute, showing physical assaults taking place in the sub-basement and near the garage door. The situation escalated when Anderson retrieved a handgun. Although the mother attempted to intervene and block Anderson’s path to her sons, the confrontation continued into the kitchen. Anderson reportedly fired warning shots into the ceiling before turning the weapon on the two men.
The probable cause statement alleges that Anderson shot one brother who had allegedly attempted to strike him, and then shot the other brother who was reportedly unarmed and looking at a cell phone. Prosecutors stated that Anderson continued to fire at the men after they had fallen to the floor and were no longer posing a threat, with evidence suggesting he stood over them and stomped on one of the victims during the attack. While Anderson claimed to detectives that he acted in self-defense, asserting that one of the stepsons was armed with a knife, police noted that neither victim was found with a weapon at the time of the shooting.
Following the incident, Terrill S. Anderson was taken into custody and booked into the Jackson County Detention Center. He was subsequently charged by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office with second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and two counts of armed criminal action. The tragic event cut short the life of Knight, a recent university graduate who had studied criminal justice and was employed in asset protection, leaving his family and community in mourning.
