In what should have been a simple transaction, 27-year-old Randie Smith, a female resident of Kansas City, Missouri, tragically lost her life on August 23, 2021. The young woman had arranged to sell a PlayStation 4 gaming console through Facebook Marketplace, a decision that ultimately placed her in a fatal encounter. She agreed to meet the prospective buyer at a BP gas station at Independence Avenue and the Paseo, unaware of the violent intentions that awaited her.
While on the phone with a family member, two men approached her red Mini Cooper as it was parked at the gas station.
Surveillance footage from the scene captured the terrifying moments that followed. After Smith opened her driver's side door, a struggle ensued with one of the men. Simultaneously, the second man, armed with a handgun, moved to the passenger side of her vehicle and fired a shot into the front windshield. In a desperate attempt to escape, Smith drove away from the gas station, but her flight was cut short. Having sustained gunshot wounds to her wrist and chest, she lost control of her car, striking a utility pole before the vehicle overturned. First responders arrived to a horrific scene and pronounced her dead.
The investigation into Randie Smith’s homicide led Kansas City police to three suspects. Detectives utilized Facebook messages exchanged between Smith and the supposed buyer to track down the individuals involved in the attempted robbery. Keron Black, 18, Raynell S. Muldrew-Golston, 21, and Latrell Muldrew-Golston, 21, were subsequently arrested and charged in connection with her death. All three men faced charges of second-degree murder, with Raynell S. Muldrew-Golston also facing a charge for armed criminal action. According to court records, Black admitted to police that he was aware a robbery had been planned, and Raynell Muldrew-Golston confessed to doing 'something stupid' out of fear. The senseless act of violence left a family and community mourning the loss of a young woman whose life was cut short over a video game console.
