On May 24, 2022, a violent incident in the North Blue Valley neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri, claimed the life of 39-year-old Elijah Kenny Flores, a Black male also known to friends and family as 'Kenny.' Police officers were dispatched to the 700 block of Ditman Avenue around 8:30 p.m. following reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, they discovered Flores lying in a vacant lot near the street, suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.
despite the arrival of emergency medical services, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office subsequently ruled the death a homicide, noting that the victim had sustained gunshot defects to his armpit and back.
Investigation by the Kansas City Police Department revealed that the shooting had not occurred in the vacant lot but inside a nearby residence at 714 Ditman Avenue. Witnesses reported that Flores had been at the home assisting an acquaintance, Mark R. Sellars, in a search for Sellars' recently stolen truck. According to statements given to investigators, a verbal altercation broke out between the two men inside the house. As the argument escalated, Flores attempted to leave and headed toward the front door. Witnesses alleged that Sellars, who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, produced a handgun and shot Flores in the back. Following the initial shot, Sellars reportedly fired additional rounds before attempting to take the victim's car keys and cellphone.
Mark R. Sellars, a 43-year-old resident of Independence, Missouri, was identified as the suspect in the killing. Police located and arrested him the following day at a property in Independence. At the time of his apprehension, Sellars was reportedly in possession of methamphetamine and appeared to be under the influence of narcotics, which delayed his initial interview with detectives. Authorities executed a search warrant at the Ditman Avenue residence, where they recovered spent 9mm shell casings near the front door, corroborating witness accounts of the shooting's location.
Prosecutors from the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office charged Sellars with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Court records indicated that Sellars had a significant criminal history, including a prior conviction for second-degree murder and armed criminal action stemming from a 2008 shooting death in Jackson County, for which he had been released on probation just months prior to the shooting of Flores. Following the new charges, prosecutors requested that Sellars be held without bond.
