Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today on additional firearms charges following a three-vehicle collision in which he struck and killed another motorist.
 
Keith L. Carnes, 27, of Kansas City, was charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Carnes on Sept. 1, 2016, and includes additional charges. Carnes remains in federal custody without bond.
 
The federal indictment charges Carnes with being a felon in possession of a firearm and with two counts of being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.
 
According to the indictment, Carnes was in possession of a Bersa Thunder .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun on Aug. 30, 2016. The indictment also alleges that Carnes was in possession of a Glock .45-caliber pistol on Feb. 10, 2013.
 
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, police officers responded to an accident at the intersection of 63rd Street and Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Mo., at 8:32 p.m. on Aug. 30, 2016. Three vehicles were involved in the accident, including a 2008 Pontiac G6 driven by Carnes. Witnesses told police officers that the Pontiac, which had multiple bullet holes in the driver’s side doors, was traveling southbound on Prospect Avenue at a high rate of speed and failed to stop for the red traffic signal. The Pontiac struck a Dodge Ram, which was westbound on 63rd Street, killing the driver and causing it to strike a Nissan Quest and a pole on the southwest corner of the intersection.
 
Carnes, who had blood on his t-shirt, told officers, “I have been shot, I know I have been shot,” the affidavit says. Police officers broke a window in the Pontiac so they could reach Carnes and provide medical assistance. Officers saw a bag of suspected marijuana and a Bersa Thunder .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun on the floorboard, according to the affidavit. The handgun had blood on it. Carnes was transported by Emergency Medical Service to an area hospital for treatment. The driver of the Dodge Ram was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
 
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony or is an unlawful user of a controlled substance to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Carnes has two prior felony convictions for assault.
 
Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
 
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Trey Alford. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.