On the evening of April 3, 2021, officers from the Kansas City Police Department responded to reports of gunfire in the Citadel neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. The shooting occurred at an apartment complex near East 60th Street and Highland Avenue. When law enforcement arrived at the scene around 8:30 p.m., they discovered a 25-year-old Black male named Darryl L. King II suffering from critical gunshot wounds.
First responders transported him to a local hospital for emergency treatment, but he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead later that night.
Investigators worked for several months to identify a suspect in the homicide. The breakthrough in the case came approximately six months after the shooting, leading to the arrest of a man named Damon Lee. Authorities had utilized various methods to locate him, including public appeals that featured his photograph on billboards in the Kansas City area. Following his apprehension, Lee was indicted by a grand jury in connection with the fatal incident.
The legal proceedings concluded nearly three years after the crime took place. In January 2024, Damon Lee entered a guilty plea to charges of voluntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. As a result of the plea agreement, a judge sentenced him to 18 years in prison. King, who had worked as a stocker and cashier at a local market, was survived by a daughter, his parents, and several siblings who attended the proceedings.
