Man charged in fatal shooting of woman at Kansas City-area mall

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped charges against a man accused of fatally shooting a pregnant woman after she went to a suburban Kansas City mall to buy baby clothes.

Michael Mansur, a spokesman for the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, said Monday that not enough evidence has been obtained to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the charges against Mark Anthony Greer, 21.

Authorities believe multiple people fired shots after an altercation between two groups at the Independence Center on Nov. 10. Four people were shot, including Karla Brown, 19, who was four months pregnant when she was killed.

The investigation was hampered by the fact that police could not recover any of the weapons used, forcing investigators to rely on shell casings and blood spatter, the Kansas City Star reported.

Greer was initially charged with three counts of unlawful use of a weapon and three counts of armed criminal action in the shooting. One of the charges was later upgraded to second-degree murder.

But Mansur told the Kansas City Star that the county's investigation would continue and another round of charges could still follow.

Court documents say Green and Brown entered the mall with separate groups of people. Brown backed away and sat in a chair before a disagreement between the groups escalated into violence. Brown was shot in the head and died about a week later.

At the time of the shooting, Greer told investigators he was at the mall but was unarmed.