Detectives believe dozens of people may have been near the northeast Kansas City parking lot when gunfire killed the 35-year-old.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City homicide detectives are seeking information from a potentially large group of witnesses as they investigate the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Kierra McGee near Independence Avenue and Van Brunt Boulevard.
The number of people believed to have been nearby has become a central issue in the investigation. Police said investigators thought as many as several dozen people were present around the time of the Aug. 2 shooting. Detectives canvassed the area and searched for surveillance video after McGee was found unresponsive in a business parking lot.
Officers were dispatched shortly before 4 a.m. after reports of a shooting. A Jackson County sheriff’s deputy in the area heard the gunfire and reached the scene before other emergency responders, according to police. Kansas City officers then found McGee in the parking lot of an O’Reilly Auto Parts store. Emergency medical crews pronounced her dead.
Crime scene investigators processed the area for evidence while homicide detectives tried to identify people who may have seen the shooting or events that preceded it. Police did not identify a suspect in the initial reports, and authorities had not publicly established a motive or released a detailed account of what led to the gunfire.
The killing came during a stretch in which four homicides were reported in Kansas City over four days. The other cases included the shooting death of 26-year-old Devonte J. Shockley, another fatal shooting involving a man whose name had not initially been released, and the death of 38-year-old Neveda Mosley. Police said a suspect was in custody in Mosley’s case, while the other three investigations remained without publicly announced resolutions in the Aug. 3 update.
Rosilyn Temple, founder of the Kansas City chapter of Mothers in Charge, responded to several of the homicide scenes and described the repeated violence as traumatic for the community. Temple has spent years working with families affected by homicide after the unsolved killing of her own son.
“We got to stop making this normal. This is not normal,” Temple said while discussing the string of killings. Her comments reflected concern among community advocates that each new homicide affects not only the victim’s family but also residents who repeatedly experience violence in their neighborhoods.
Temple said she was preparing for church early Sunday when she learned another woman had been killed. She later urged residents with knowledge about violent crimes to speak with investigators, saying the community could not treat repeated homicides as an ordinary part of life.
McGee’s death has also drawn tributes from friends and members of Kansas City’s entertainment community, where she was known as a performer. Those remembrances have developed alongside the police investigation, giving the homicide two closely connected dimensions: a search for answers about who killed her and a community mourning the person who was lost.
Funeral home records identify McGee as a Kansas City resident born Jan. 29, 1991. Services are scheduled for Aug. 21. Published funeral listings reviewed Wednesday contain differences in some venue and interment details, making the family’s final arrangements the appropriate source for confirmation of those specifics.
Police continue to seek information from anyone who witnessed the Aug. 2 shooting or has relevant video or other evidence. No motive was established in the initial public accounts, and the reports reviewed did not identify a publicly announced suspect in McGee’s killing. Her funeral is scheduled for Aug. 21.
Author note: Last updated August 12, 2026.