Men charged in death of 6-year-old girl

Leandre Smith

Jackson County prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against two men in the drive-by shooting that killed a 6-year-old girl.

Howard Chase IV, 19, and Leandre Smith, 21, are charged with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action.

Angel Hooper died Oct. 17 after she was shot while in the parking lot of a south Kansas City convenience store with her father.

They had gone there to buy bubblegum.

Witnesses and video surveillance connected a vehicle to the shooting, leading police to Chase, according to prosecutors and court records.

Howard Chase

A witness also told police that Chase said he was involved in the shooting and that the guns had been destroyed – “They won’t find them, they are gone, melted,”

Cell phone records also put him near the location of the homicide within minutes of it happening, prosecutors said.