Prosecutors say Klymax Lounge nightclub shooting was caught on video

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A 36-year-old man from Kansas City, Missouri, is facing felony charges following a shooting in May that killed three people and injured two others at the Klymax Lounge nightclub.

Isiah Clinton, 36, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Each charge carries a potential punishment of death or life in prison without eligibility for parole. Clinton has also been charged with two counts of felony first-degree assault and five counts of armed criminal action.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced the charges Friday at a 10 a.m. press conference with Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and Police Chief Stacey Graves.

“We believe that this was all based on someone who had a dispute and decided they wanted to resolve it this way,” Peters Baker said. “That’s what gets us to the highest possible charge of murder in the first degree. There’s not a higher charge than that in the state of Missouri.”

Baker said Clinton was charged days ago but those charges were filed under seal because he was not yet in custody. Clinton was apprehended Thursday, she said.

A probable cause document released Friday said KCPD officers responded to Club Klymax at 1:25 a.m. on Sunday, May 21, 2023. When they arrived, five shooting victims were located; three of them had passed away due to their injuries. The two who survived were taken to local hospitals in critical condition.

“They have a long road ahead of them and potentially these will be lifelong injuries that they have to contend with,” Baker said Friday.

Court documents said detectives found multiple shell casings in the area where the first two victims were located in front of the nightclub. A third victim was found dead inside of Club Klymax. Officers found the fourth and fifth victims suffering from gunshot wounds.

When an area canvas was conducted, it was determined that surveillance video at nearby Sankofa Café shows the time frame of the shooting. The café is located just north of the crime scene on Indiana Avenue.

According to prosecutors, the 45-minute video clip shows the events of the early morning shooting.

READ MORE: Police identify 3 victims shot to death Sunday morning at Klymax Lounge

Charging documents state that a silver Chevrolet Impala was seen on both surveillance video and a witness-submitted video. That car was sitting to the south of the 43rd and Indiana intersection in a parking lot, then parking facing north toward 43rd Street. Seven minutes into the video, an unknown person wearing white pants and a grey hoodie got out of the driver’s side of the vehicle and walked north on Indiana toward the club.

Ten minutes later, the person is allegedly seen running out of the club and returning to the Impala. Two minutes later, a second unknown person got out of the vehicle wearing a light grey hoodie, grey pants and black shoes. That person, who police labeled as the first suspect, walked toward the club. Court documents state that, at 21 minutes into the surveillance video, the suspect is seen standing near the front door on the sidewalk and raising his hand like he is shooting a gun.

About two minutes later, when the first victim walked out of the front door, the first suspect ran to him and shot him multiple times while he was on the ground.

“We believe (Clarence Henderson) was the intended target,” Peters Baker said at Friday’s press conference. “When I say ‘intended target,’ we believe that Mr. Clinton sought out Mr. Henderson and laid in wait for him while he was at the club. He waited for him to exit the Club Klymax doors and then gunned him down.”

Another victim was seen running from the first victim and falling in the middle of the street at 43rd and Indiana. The first suspect then ran toward him and kicked him while on the ground. At that time, another unknown individual wearing a black hoodie, white pants and white shoes ran out of the club and to the parked Impala, which then left the parking lot heading south on Indiana Avenue.

Court documents said surveillance video from a nearby neighbor caught several distinguishing features of the Impala. Those include: a dark emblem on the trunk lid, an unknown front placard in red writing that appeared to be from a dealership or finance company, and an open sunroof.

Court documents state that detectives interviewed the fourth victim on Monday, May 22. That is the victim who fell in the street and was kicked. Detectives were told he did not know who the suspects were. He also told police that both suspect one (who held the gun up and then fired shots at the first victim) and suspect two (the man wearing a black jacket, white pants and white shoes) were shooting.

At 11:26 p.m. on May 22, officers on routine patrol in the area of 35th and Prospect located a silver 2006 Chevrolet Impala with an emblem on the trunk lid, a “Kwik Auto Finance” placard in red writing, and an open sunroof. “[T]hese distinguishing features match the suspect’s vehicle viewed on video in the parking lot,” court documents state.

The person driving that car was Clinton, who was arrested and processed after it was determined he was operating the vehicle with a suspended driver’s license. With a search warrant for the Impala, detectives recovered black shoes and dark grey sweatpants. When tested by the KCPD Crime Lab, those items had particles of gunshot residue on the left pocket, right pocket and waistband.

The probable cause document also said a requested geofence warrant of the latitude and longitude of the parking lot and Klymax Lounge resulted in 10 common devices between 12:59 a.m. and 1:25 a.m. on the day of the shooting. One of the devices, a phone found in the Impala during the search, was associated with Clinton. A review of text conversations on the device -- which was registered to Clinton’s address and phone number -- revealed a conversation with an unknown individual.

“[On my mother] we handle this tonight delete this,” read a text sent from the device at 12:53 a.m., according to court documents. At 1:31 a.m., another message was sent: “It over with brody.”

Baker said Clinton was on parole after being sentenced in March 2021 for a weapon violation.

Previous coverage:

Klymax Lounge re-opens with Stop the Violence rally

Kansas City family loses 2 relatives to gun violence in 3 weeks

Shooting at Klymax Lounge kills 3, injures 2