KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City man has been charged with murder for the fatal shooting of a teenage girl late last year in Independence, Missouri.
Eric R. Phillips II, 28, faces 1st Degree Murder, Armed Criminal Action, and Abandonment of a Corpse, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson
According to court records, Kansas City police received a call on November 28, 2025, reporting that an 18-year-old victim had been shot multiple times in a vehicle at a location in Independence earlier that morning. Detectives began using investigative leads to locate the vehicle.
Due to the circumstances, the victim was entered as a missing person in Independence.
Through multiple witness reports and surveillance footage, detectives identified Phillips as the shooter. Detectives determined he shot the victim multiple times while she was in the back of his vehicle in the early morning hours of Nov. 28. Ring camera footage captured the sound of gunshots coming from the location of his vehicle where it had been reported the shooting had occurred, and Phillips was seen in video footage multiple times carrying a firearm.
On November 29, police found the victim deceased in Kansas City. Phillips' cell phone pinged in the area where the victim’s body was located.
A Jackson County judge set Phillips’s bond at $350,000 cash only.
Prosecutors charged the defendant on December 3, 2025, under seal. The case has been unsealed this week.
Phillips is not yet in custody and law enforcement are working to locate him. If you have any information about his whereabouts, please contact police or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers over the phone: 816-474-8477 or online at kccrimestoppers.com.