KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -
Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man found in a pickup early Wednesday morning.
Officers were called shortly after 8 a.m. to a home located in the 1400 block of Colorado Avenue between East 12th Street and East Truman Road on the city's east side.
The victim's wife works overnights and came home to discover her husband's truck still in the driveway with her husband dead inside. The victim, 36-year-old Jose Espino, should have already been at work, according to his wife.
Espino was a handyman who enjoyed helping others.
"He liked fixing houses and fixing cars," said Brandi Johnson about her stepfather.
After Johnson's mother discovered her husband bleeding and lifeless, she ran to a neighbor's house and called 911.
Police said there was no indication of a gun battle, meaning that there was no damage caused by bullets to the outside of the truck. They also said nothing was missing from the home and there were no indications that anyone tried to break into the home.
Police are working to outline a time frame for when the shooting may have happened in this 75th homicide of the year. There were no reports of shots fired Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
"Obviously she's (the wife's) distraught so we're giving her some time. We have people talking to her. We are starting to knock on doors to neighbors' houses. We don't have a timeframe of when this happened, it could have happened anytime overnight, so we're hoping neighbors heard something or saw something," Officer Darin Snapp said. "We don't have any witnesses at this time."
Johnson said her mother is devastated and the family prays the killer is caught soon.
"Whoever did this should turn themselves in," Johnson said. "They took someone who meant a lot to us."
There is no suspect description at this time.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Tips Hotline at 816-474-8477.
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