Inset left: Allen Prince (Cass County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Amy Coon (Selfie via Facebook). Background: The Price Chopper grocery store parking lot where Prince allegedly shot and killed Coon in Pleasant Hill, Mo. (Google Maps).
A Missouri man has been detained following the tragic shooting of a mother and grandmother in a supermarket parking lot on Memorial Day.
Allen Prince, aged 27, faces charges including first-degree murder, two counts of assault, and three counts of armed criminal action, as stated by the Cass County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
This violent episode claimed the life of 45-year-old Amy Coon and left a 16-year-old grocery store employee injured.
The incident unfolded at the Cosentino’s Price Chopper on Missouri Route 7, commonly known as MO-7, in Pleasant Hill, a small community approximately 30 miles southeast of Kansas City.
“Amy wasn’t just a victim,” remarked Pleasant Hill Police Chief Tommy Wright during a press briefing. “She was a daughter, a mother, a grandmother, and someone who deeply loved her family, who in turn deeply loved her.”
The teenage victim, identified only as Ayden, is currently recovering in the ICU at Children’s Mercy Hospital, where he remains in stable condition, according to a report by The Kansas City Star.
“This was his first job,” the teen’s mother told Kansas City-based CBS affiliate KCTV. “He just started working there in March. I’m hoping that it’s not going to traumatize him from wanting to go back to work.”
The surviving victim was shot twice while retrieving shopping carts from the parking lot, according to a GoFundMe.
Coon hailed from Pleasant Hill and was shopping at Price Chopper just moments before the shooting. She was shot while standing next to her own vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.
The slain woman was remembered fondly, the Star reports.
“Aunt Amy believed in me and my future,” her niece wrote in a Facebook post. “She truly was a light in this evil and cruel world we live in. I never saw her without a smile on her face. She was a daughter, a mother, grandmother, and friend.”
The shooting began just before 4:30 p.m., police said. Soon after the first few shots rang out, two armed citizens began to approach Prince — prompting the defendant to shoot himself in the head with a bolt-action Winchester .243-caliber rifle, according to law enforcement.
“Two gentlemen from the Pleasant Hill area, who were armed, had the courage to approach this suspect, who then turned the gun on himself,” the police chief said. “I applaud them. I appreciate people like that being in our community. This is a community that truly exists for each other and these two men stepped forward… to prevent further violence.”
The defendant is currently being treated for his injuries.
The defendant was already in legal trouble at the time of the shooting. He was due in court in Cass County on June 3, for a hearing over a harassment charge filed against him in September 2025, according to court records obtained by local Fox affiliate WDAF.
In that case, a family member alleges Prince told her: “If she doesn’t shut up, he will blow her f— head off.” The witness also claims the defendant often wakes in the middle of the night “yelling non-sensible ideations [and] banging on the walls,” court records show.
In that case, Prince was taken into custody without incident, denied making any threats, and said he was “unsure as to why deputies were contacting him on this day.” In October, he was released on a recognizance bond with conditions that included not possessing firearms, having no harmful contact with anyone, and obeying all laws.
Coon’s death marks the first homicide in Pleasant Hill in at least 20 years.
“This is not an everyday occurrence in Pleasant Hill,” Wright said on Tuesday. “In fact, it looks like it’s every 20 years or so. And we hope that we can even make that last a little longer this time.”
