Kansas honors lives of those killed in violent crimes

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) - For many, the trees are trimmed and the anticipation is mounting for celebrating Christmas with family. Others, meanwhile, are experiencing their first holiday season without someone they love.

One hundred sixty-eight people in the state of Kansas were killed by violence this year. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and his staff, along with the Kansas Organization for Victim Assistance, have been traveling the state to host holiday receptions honoring those lost. On Friday, they came to Kansas City, Kansas. They visited Wichita earlier in the week and will be going to Topeka next week.

Twenty-one of those people were killed in KCK. It marks a trend that’s not talked about nearly as much as the homicide rate in Kansas City, Missouri. There, with 175 homicides to date this year, they are four shy of the record high of 179 at year’s end in 2020.

In KCK, 2020 was also a record high, with 58 homicides. The total to date this year is nearly a third of that.

Adjusting for population, the 2023 homicide rate in KCMO is 2.5 times that of KCK. The poverty rate, meanwhile, is slightly higher in KCK according to 2022 U.S. Census data.

On Friday, Kobach did not want to opine on what’s working and what’s not in the realm of crime prevention. He said the focus of the day was not about numbers but the names and stories behind them.

“There is no easy solution to the continuing problem of violent crime in America,” said Kobach. “I think we have to look at every possible thing we can do. And honoring the loved ones who are gone is the very least we can do.”

The angelic sounds of a harp played as names and faces filled a video screen. Two twinkling Christmas trees flanked the screen, cluttered with handmade ornaments. The ornaments on the trees are brought by families each year and then tucked away by his staff to be added to the following year.

Carolyn Marks now has five ornaments for her son, RJ.

“Every last one of these means something to us that nobody can understand,” Marks said.

RJ Marks was 23 when he was killed on Nov. 26, 2018, at Ohio Ave. and N. 10th Street. Snow blanketed the city that day. Carolyn remembers. She hasn’t seen that much snow since. His killer had fled to Texas but was captured within 24 hours and is now serving a life sentence.

“To hear that young man won’t be able to hurt anybody else, that’s enough for me,” she said.

Maria Lopez doesn’t have that yet.

Her son, Quico Montez, was killed at N. 18th Street and Minnesota Ave. on Jan. 30, 2021. He was 41. His killers are still out there. She knows who they are, she said, but the police don’t have the evidence they need to move forward.

She’s been coming to the event every year since he died. It’s her third year.

“It’s nice to be around people that know the pain that people are having,” Montez said. “But it’s also sad that every year you see more and more people in this situation.”

With all her kids, she made it a habit to share affectionate parting words.

“I love you. God bless you. Take care of yourself,” she said, more specifically. “And I always make the sign of the cross before they leave. And that day I didn’t. I didn’t tell him that I love him. And that’s something that’s always going to be in my mind. I know he knew that I loved him. But I didn’t tell him.”

Kobach said his office holds the event annually to show people like Carolyn and Maria they care, and to give them a place to lean on each other. Friday night, as mothers, fathers, siblings and more trickled out of the Memorial Hall Ballroom, staff with the attorney general’s office sat at tables with tissue paper, removing, wrapping and packing each ornament. They will go through the same process when they host a similar reception in Topeka on Wednesday.

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