On a Tuesday evening in February 2019, 15-year-old An’janique Wright was fatally shot outside Central Academy of Excellence in Kansas City, Missouri, where she was attending a high school basketball game. An altercation had reportedly occurred inside the school between two groups of people, leading to both groups being escorted out of the building separately.
An’janique was with her twin sister, Angelique, who recalled that a group of girls had approached them and suggested they go outside to fight.
After being told to leave by security, An’janique and her friends exited the school. In the parking lot, a van was waiting. A person emerged from the vehicle and opened fire, striking An’janique. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead. Surveillance video from the school captured the shooting, showing a single shooter firing a handgun multiple times toward An’janique and the people she was with before getting back into the van and fleeing the scene.
The day after the shooting, two women were taken into custody. The suspects were identified as 21-year-old Jamya D. Norfleet and 18-year-old Taylor K. McMillon. An off-duty police officer who was working security at the basketball game recognized McMillon, a student at Central High School, as the driver of the minivan seen in the surveillance footage. Norfleet was identified as the shooter. During questioning, Norfleet admitted to firing the gun, stating she was concerned for her friends' safety, though evidence showed a significant distance between the shooter and the victim.
Jamya D. Norfleet was charged with second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and armed criminal action. Taylor K. McMillon faced charges of accessory to second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and hindering prosecution. In 2021, Norfleet pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed criminal action and was subsequently sentenced to 28 years in prison. McMillon pleaded guilty to being an accessory to voluntary manslaughter and received a five-year prison sentence. In the wake of the shooting, An’janique's mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Kansas City Public Schools, alleging that the district failed to follow its own safety policies which could have prevented her daughter's death. The funeral for An'janique was tragically disrupted by gunfire, although no one was injured in that incident.
