In the summer of 2019, a heart-wrenching tragedy befell a Kansas City, Missouri family, leaving them to grapple with an unimaginable double loss. The first of these devastating events occurred on the evening of Sunday, July 7th, when 25-year-old Ki’essence Pelton was senselessly killed. She was a passenger in a vehicle, traveling near the intersection of 39th Street and Myrtle Avenue, when the sound of gunfire suddenly shattered the night.
The driver of the car, realizing in horror that Pelton had been struck, rushed her to a nearby hospital. Despite the desperate attempt to save her life, the young mother of two daughters, ages five years and 10 months, was pronounced dead.
The pain for the Pelton family was cruelly compounded just two days later. In a separate and apparently unrelated act of violence, Ki’essence’s 18-year-old cousin, Charles Pelton, was also shot and killed. This second tragedy unfolded at a church parking lot, leaving the family and the wider community in a state of shock and profound grief. The close succession of these two fatal shootings amplified the sorrow, as family members were forced to plan funerals for two of their beloved young people at once.
In the wake of these tragic events, the Kansas City Police Department opened investigations into both homicides. However, despite the passage of time, there have been no public announcements regarding any arrests or the identification of any suspects in the murder of Ki’essence Pelton. Her case is listed on the Kansas City Police Department's website of unsolved homicides. The lack of resolution in her case leaves a painful void for her grieving family, who continue to seek answers and justice for the young mother who was so tragically taken from them.
