Mother files wrongful death suit against Raytown cop who shot her son

By Caroline Zimmerman Updated April 2, 2026 10:21 AM

The mother of a Grandview man fatally shot by a Raytown police officer in 2024 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer.

Cecelia Wilson’s son, 32-year-old Kenneth Williams Jr., was fatally shot by police outside the QuikTrip at 8733 East 63rd St. on Nov. 9, 2024.

Nearly a year later, Jackson County prosecutors announced they would not charge the officer who killed Williams. Wilson filed the wrongful death lawsuit against Raytown police officer Dallas Burnette in Jackson County Wednesday, according to a petition document. In a phone interview with a Star reporter Wednesday, John Picerno, the attorney representing Wilson, said he’s “looking forward to litigating” the lawsuit and “achieving justice for Kenneth and his family.” “Mrs. Wilson has lost her son, people have lost loved ones,” Picerno said. “It’s always a heartbreaking thing for any parent to go through to lose your child.”

Lawsuit claims officer violated department use of force policy According to the lawsuit, Williams entered the QuikTrip just before midnight on Nov. 8, 2024, where he asked the store clerk for a lighter. The clerk told Williams he would need to purchase a lighter, and that she could not give him one. During a discussion with the gas station’s security guard, Williams allegedly made comments “to the effect that he had a bomb in his vehicle,” and the guard told Williams to leave the premises, the lawsuit said. Williams left briefly before returning, after which the security guard sprayed him with mace, the court document said. Williams left the area on foot, “because the mace sprayed into his eyes made it unsafe for him to drive.” After the security guard reported the interaction with Williams, Burnette, three other officers and a civilian participating in a ride-along arrived at the gas station just after midnight.

According to the lawsuit, an officer  “conducted a ‘walk-around’” of Williams’ van, “to ensure it was clear, which it was.” Officers cleared customers from the store and parking lot, and requested the gas pumps be turned off, the lawsuit said. First-responders were congregated inside the QuikTrip and outside its front doors when Williams returned to the parking lot, according to the lawsuit. Williams started to walk toward his van, unlocking it from a distance with a key fob, the suit states.

As he was approaching the driver’s side door, officers ran towards Williams, during which Burnette allegedly shot the man, the lawsuit said. According to the court document, Williams was shot up to seven times. Bullets struck his back, chest, both buttocks, and both arms. The man hadn’t touched his vehicle before shots were fired, according to the lawsuit. The suit contends that there was no evidence Williams was in possession of a weapon, “made threats, or posed an imminent danger” to officers. Additionally, the suit claims Burnette violated the police department’s “policies, practices, and training regarding threat assessment and use of force.” “We believe that Kenneth did not present an imminent danger to anyone at the moment that he was shot, and that’s really what the case boils down to,” Picerno said.

The Raytown Police Department’s use of force policy is not available online. The department did not immediately respond to The Star’s request for comment Wednesday. Lawsuit gives different version of events leading up to shooting The wrongful death lawsuit provides a different series of events than those previously released by law enforcement officials. In an initial press release regarding the shooting on Nov. 9, 2024, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said officers were giving Williams commands as he approached his vehicle, and he was struck by gunfire as he climbed inside.

The release said the Kansas City Police Department Bomb Squad later recovered “explosive material” from the vehicle, but the agency has not said what kind of explosive material was found. On Oct. 3, 2025 Jackson County prosecutors announced in a statement that the officer involved in the fatal shooting would not face charges, saying they believed Williams posed “imminent danger” to those around him. The statement said Williams “threatened to blow the gas station up,” and that he had run toward his vehicle, failing to comply with commands. Family remembers Williams as kind, devoted to family and faith.

At the time, LaTasha Crawford, Williams’ sister, said she had been told investigators found an “improvised explosive device” in her brother’s van. “To me, they were fireworks and also cleaning equipment,” Crawford said. The family fought to view video footage of the shooting, which Crawford said “looked like a public execution by one officer who acted as the jury, the judge and the executioner. That is not OK.”

Crawford said Williams was going to his van to go home, and that the officer fired “quickly.” “My brother is not a terrorist, and yet he was treated as one,” Crawford said. At a balloon release in November 2024 honoring his memory, family members described Williams, who ran his own carpet-cleaning business, as a hardworking, kind, gentle man devoted to his family and faith.

Kendrick Calfee and Nathan Pilling contributed reporting.