An Independence, Missouri, woman avoided an attempted murder charge as she pleaded guilty to two lesser felonies for her involvement in a fatal Olathe shooting that occurred last year.
On July 23 in Johnson County District Court, Toni M. Tyson pleaded guilty to discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling with children under 14 years of age present, a level 7 personal felony, as well as aggravated endangering a child, a level 9 personal felony.
As part of the plea agreement, two other charges — attempted first degree murder and attempted second degree murder — were dropped.
Tyson was charged on Feb. 14 for her involvement in a shooting that occured a year earlier, at about 10 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2025. One man, Eduardo E. Portillo, 28, of Independence, was killed.
The case is presided over by Judge Michael P. Joyce. Tyson’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
Police were called to an apartment in February 2025
At about 10:15 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2025, Olathe Police responded to a call of an armed disturbance at Wingfield Apartments in the 15900 block of West 127th Street, where Portillo was found lying on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds.
He was transported to Overland Park Regional Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Earlier that day, Tyson, her son and Portillo, who was identified as Tyson’s boyfriend, were visiting friends, whose names were redacted in court documents, at the apartment complex.
While they were visiting, Tyson’s vehicle got towed, which upset her. She called 911 to report a stolen car while also blaming one of the friends she was visiting for it being towed, according to Johnson County court records.
“(The friends) eventually asked Tyson and (Portillo) to leave because the situation continued to escalate,” court records said.
While that argument was happening, one of the friends went to another person’s apartment to see if they could contact the towing company to have Tyson’s vehicle returned. The two returned to the apartment with another resident of the apartment when they heard screaming because a fight broke out between Tyson and one of the friends.
While one of the friends was restrained, Portillo grabbed Tyson and her son and went down the complex’s staircase to the ground floor.
Videos later obtained by Olathe Police from inside the friends’ apartment, as well as Snapchat posts, showed Tyson angrily yelling at the friends and saying someone should “pop them,” or shoot them. Tyson later told police that she knew Portillo was armed.
One person died in the shooting
While Tyson, Portillo and her son were backing down the stairs, Portillo took out a 9mm handgun and banged it threateningly against the staircase, court records stated. He then discharged the weapon four times, with three of the shots going into the ground. He was holding Tyson’s son as he did this, court records say.
One of the people with the friends returned fire three or four times at Portillo, later admitting that they did not know he was holding Tyson’s son. At least three of the shots struck Portillo.
As Tyson and Portillo walked away, Tyson grabbed his gun, walked back towards the building and fired one shot at one of the people involved in the shooting, who, at that time, went to a friend’s apartment.
After Tyson grabbed his gun, Portillo walked about 100 to 150 feet from the staircase, placed Tyson’s son down and collapsed.
Tyson then checked on her son and Portillo, then went back to friends’ apartment to find the person that fired the shots running away. She then raised the gun at their direction, but did not fire. She then threw the handgun in a dumpster and stayed by Portillo’s side when police made contact with her.
No one else was charged in the shooting.
What’s next
Tyson is scheduled for sentencing at 10 a.m. on Oct. 16 in Johnson County District Court.
She also has a separate case in court for three misdemeanors and an infraction, including endangering a child, driving while suspended, driving without insurance and failure to yield at a stop sign.
A bench trial for that case will also occur during her sentencing.
