KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An argument inside an east Kansas City, Missouri, convenience store over whether a man was laughing at another man led to the fatal shooting of a store employee.
The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office charged Adrian D. Stallings, 27, with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm - dangerous felon/prior conviction in the death of 41-year-old Craig Washington.
The deadly shooting happened about 8:40 p.m. on Nov. 18, 2025, inside the Phillips 66 Xpress Mart near Prospect Avenue and Gregory Boulevard.
A court document states Stallings entered the store and asked for two shots of Bacardi Gold.
Stallings looked back at someone who laughed while watching something on his cell phone inside the store.
Stallings said, "What are you laughing for? You laughing? I said, 'Are you laughing though?"'
He told that person to come outside, used a racial slur and threatened to hit the man, the court document states.
Stallings was a dollar short of the $3.25 price for the liquor.
Washington stepped in to break up the argument and Stallings pulled a gun and began shooting Washington.
Kansas City, Missouri, police later found 17 9mm Blazer shell casings, according to the court document.
KSHB 41's Alyssa Jackson went to the store the day after the murder and talked with customers, friends and family of Washington.
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A memorial with handwritten notes and the message, "Stop the Violence," was in front of the store.
"I don't go to any other gas station — knowing he's not going to be here kinda hurts…reality check, but it kinda hurts," Shaftt Johnson, a friend of Washington, told Jackson.
Statistics kept by KCPD reveal that 55% of the 131 homicides in 2025 were the result of arguments.
"This community is going downhill fast. It's just too many shootings," Barnes told Jackson at the store.
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Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
