In the early morning hours of Friday, October 16, 2020, the life of 24-year-old Rodricus A. Dawson, a Black male from Independence, Kansas, was tragically cut short. Reports of gunfire in the 500 block of N. Penn Ave. in Independence led police to a grim discovery at approximately 3:45 a.m. A vehicle had crashed into an apartment building, and inside, Dawson and another man, 27-year-old Tyler D. Cook, were found deceased. Both men had been shot.
A third individual, a 27-year-old woman, was also found in the vehicle with injuries and was transported to a hospital in Joplin for treatment. She was expected to survive her injuries.
The Independence Police Department, recognizing the severity of the crime, requested assistance from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at approximately 4:15 a.m. The KBI's special agents and Crime Scene Response Team were dispatched to the scene to lead the homicide investigation. The initial investigation painted a picture of a violent encounter that ended with two lives lost and another individual seriously wounded, leaving a community in shock and searching for answers. The authorities worked to piece together the events that led to the fatal shooting and the subsequent car crash.
A break in the case came just two days later. On the evening of Sunday, October 18, the KBI and the Independence Police Department served an arrest warrant to 18-year-old James T. S. Gofourth, also of Independence. At the time the warrant was served, Gofourth was already incarcerated at the Labette County Jail on unrelated charges. The warrant charged Gofourth with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Rodricus A. Dawson and Tyler D. Cook. Additionally, he was charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder for the injuries sustained by the 27-year-old woman who was also in the vehicle.
