Kansas City 2023 homicide total reaches 32 following recent stretch of violence

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Wednesday marked the fifth day in a row that a homicide claimed a life in Kansas City.

Kansas City police were called Tuesday to investigate two homicides just hours apart.

From Jan. 1 through March 15, 32 people have died as the result of a homicide in Kansas City. Last year during the same time frame, 31 people were killed in Kansas City. During 2020, the deadliest year in Kansas City’s history, 32 homicides occurred from January through March 15 of that year. “We are going to continue these investigations,” Ofc. Donna Drake said. “I would just urge the community to meet us alongside. When you know something, say something.”

Members of Partners for Peace are meeting each week as part of a citywide initiative involving more than 20 organizations to try to prevent future violence by connecting survivors and families of homicide victims with social services.

“What we do know that in the midst of these increases, we have to bear down stay the course. Keep our heads focused on our common shared goal of reducing and decreasing violent crime in Kansas City,” Director of Public Safety for the Office of Mayor Quinton Lucas Melesa Johnson said. “There is no such thing as an overnight, or a one month, or even a one-year fix to this problem. We are combating decades upon decades of systemic and cultural issues that we are trying to overcome through innovative strategies.”

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“The moment that we lose hope is the moment that those numbers begin to increase. More families stop flourishing. More lives are lost,” Partners for Peace Member Curtis Wright said. “Every time we are meeting with community and with surrounding partners, we’re seeing change because we’re at the table. We’re strategic, we’re empathetic and intentional.”

Partners for Peace are continuing efforts that have worked previously to reduce violent crime through KC NoVa while preparing to try new strategies.

“We are now focusing on how we get these services that we have been providing to victims of non-fatal shootings and families of homicide victims but how do we get those same services to the crime drivers,” Johnson said. “Those are people that are involved in potential or actual criminality in the present moment. Working with our police department, figuring out collaborative and creative ways to get to those individuals, whether it be social media or leveraging influencers.”

Anyone with any information about any homicide that occurs in Kansas City, Mo can receive up to a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. You can anonymously contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

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