KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Raytown man who pleaded guilty to two charges in connection with a deadly shooting in November 2017 outside a Blue Springs restaurant was sentenced Friday to 22 years in prison.
John D. Jeffries, 26, had been charged with second-degree murder, robbery and two counts of armed criminal action after he allegedly shot Clinton Peckman in the chest in the Bethlehem Cafe parking lot in the 1500 block of Northwest Woods Chapel Road.
The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced that Jeffries pleaded guilty to the murder and robbery charges.
A witness to the shooting, which occurred around 11:15 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2017, said a man later identified as Jeffries took off running after shooting Peckman, who was unresponsive when officers arrived and pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Jeffries stole a Ford Edge from a couple, firing a shot into the vehicle’s ceiling during a brief struggle, at a nearby KFC.
He wrecked the vehicle in the parking lot, where he also dropped a cell phone and a .45-caliber handgun as he fled.
Blue Springs police apprehended Jeffries a short time later after responding officers spotted him in the area.
