A coalition of civil rights attorneys known for representing families of victims of police shootings has been hired by the family of a man killed last month by police in Lenexa.
On Friday, two Chicago-based attorneys and a Kansas City, Missouri, attorney confirmed to the Johnson County Post that they will be performing an independent investigation into the death of Jose Enrique Cartagena Chacon, 25, of Grandview, Missouri, on behalf of his family.
Those attorneys include Chicago-based lawyers Andrew M. Stroth of Action Injury Law and Steven A. Hart of Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge, as well as Ben Stelter-Embry of the Kansas City, Missouri-based Embry Law.
“In this case, like other cases … it can be hard for families to navigate the process of obtaining the information about how their loved one was killed,” Stelter-Embry said. “Our primary objective at this point is to be able to obtain the information about the circumstances surrounding the shooting, the officers involved in the shooting and to provide answers for the family and to move forward with (the case), if needed.”
In the early morning hours of Sunday, June 22, Chacon was shot and killed after police officers responded to a call of a person with a gun at the Lenexa Crossing Apartments, 12445 W. 97th Terrace.
Since the shooting, two officers have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard in an officer-involved shooting, said Lenexa Master Police Officer Danny Chavez, a department spokesperson.
Over the past couple of weeks, Chacon’s friends and family members have been asking — on social media and in local media reports — for officer body cam footage of the incident to be released.
The Johnson County Officer Involved Critical Incident Investigation Team (OICIIT) is conducting an independent investigation into Chacon’s death, with the Olathe Police Department as the lead agency.
Attorneys will press to see body cam footage
The attorneys hired by Chacon’s family are asking for the release of footage, names of officers and the circumstances involving his death.
“We do our own independent investigation. And here’s the thing … they have the body camera [footage],” Stroth said. “We’re not (immediately asking for the) autopsy, toxicology, ballistics — all that stuff takes time at this stage. We’re going to ask for everything.”
“The body-worn camera, that evidence exists. They have the evidence. They also need to name the officers from the Lenexa Police that were involved. That’s what we want immediately,” Stroth added. “And we understand their independent investigation [the OICIIT investigation], but we’re going to do our own independent investigation.”
Stelter-Embry said Kansas statute requires law enforcement agencies to allow certain people to view body camera recordings within 20 days of their request to view it, including family members or attorneys for those in a recording, or the person subject to a recording themselves.
“We will take the legal steps necessary to make sure that there’s a proper (viewing of the footage),” Stelter-Embry said.
Lenexa officers at the scene of the shooting at Lenexa Crossing Apartments on June 22, 2025. Photo credit Mike Frizzell.
Stroth has previously represented families of victims of police violence
This coalition of attorneys now representing Chacon’s family has taken on other high-profile cases involving the families of people killed by police or law enforcement.
In March 2023, they helped the family of Andrew Finch, a 28-year-old man in Wichita, receive a record $5 million settlement from the city of Wichita.
On Dec. 28, 2017, Mr. Finch was shot to death in front of his home by a police sniper after officers responded to Finch’s house because of a swatting prank.
They are also representing the family of Cedric “CJ” Lofton, a 17-year-old boy who died in September 2021 in the custody of a juvenile detention center in Wichita.
Lofton had become unresponsive while being restrained following an altercation with staff at the correctional facility. He had been placed face down on a holding cell floor for nearly 40 minutes with officers’ weight applied to his back.
While a federal judge granted qualified immunity to seven corrections officers sued over Lofton’s death, it was overturned in June by a federal appeals court.
In talking about the Chacon investigation, Stroth said it reminded him of when the attorneys first got involved with the Lofton case.
“What we had to do (in the Lofton case) was to quickly reach out to the authorities to obtain the video, and in that case, like hopefully in this case, they will share the video,” Stroth said. “This family deserves to see the last moments of Jose Enrique’s life, and to see if the narrative given by the police is the, in fact, truthful narrative.”
While the three attorneys have offices in different areas, Stroth said they have extensive knowledge of Kansas’s court system and law enforcement.
“We have a lot of experience in Kansas. Ben [Stelter-Embry] has a tremendous amount of experience in Kansas, and we are going to demand the release of the video for the statute,” Stroth said. “And if we have to pursue legal action based on the evidence in the video on the body cams, we will pursue that.”
Other organizations have expressed support
On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas urged the Lenexa Police Department to release footage of Chacon’s killing.
“Trust in law enforcement requires transparency — and the the people who have sworn to protect us should not be allowed to kill members of the community and remain anonymous, and avoid accountability,” the ACLU said in a Facebook post. “This tragedy cannot be ignored and police violence can not remain unchecked in Kansas.”
The Lenexa Police Department would not comment on the case, citing the ongoing investigation.
While Chacon’s family successfully held a fundraiser over the long July 4 weekend for funeral expenses and to return his body to El Salvador, they said their goal now is to view the police footage of the shooting.
“(The) fundraiser went great. We should have everything we need in that aspect,” Victor Ayala, Chacon’s brother-in-law, said in a message to the Johnson County Post. “Now we just want to see videos that this was justified.”