KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Kansas, man is accused of gunning down a victim at an Independence motel on Aug. 3.
Charles Julius White is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the deadly shooting of Carlos Palacio.
According to court documents, surveillance video captured White shooting Palacio in the back with a rifle. Detectives used surveillance video to identify White as the suspect.
During the investigation, detectives found White had a Facebook account under the alias Chuck Taylor.
Detectives received a warrant to search the Facebook account and found White had looked up Palacio on the account hours before the killing.
They also reviewed messages between White and Palacio where White referred to himself as Holly. White was in a romantic relationship with someone named Holly, according to court documents.
During the investigation it was discovered Palacio had previously bought drugs from Holly, but she was not in the area at the time of the killing.
Moments before the killing, Palacio messaged White and said he was outside of the motel in a car. Palacio attempted to call White multiple times but he didn't answer.
Detectives used data from White's cell phone to place him in the area during the time of the killing.
After the murder, a witness told detectives about conversation they had with White.
During the conversation, White allegedly said, "Have you heard about the guy that got smoked in the parking lot? If you watch the news you don’t need to be asking me these questions. You really don’t want to go there."
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