In the early hours of a Sunday morning in Kansas City, Missouri, the life of 23-year-old Tashari Nelson, a Black female, was tragically cut short. On April 24, 2016, Nelson was shot in the head in the 3700 block of Jackson Avenue. Police responded to a call about a shooting around 2 a.m. and found her lying on the pavement next to the driver's side of a parked vehicle.
Several people were attempting to help her before first responders arrived and transported her to a local hospital.
Despite medical efforts, Nelson was declared brain dead. A loving mother of three young daughters, ages six, four, and two, she was kept on life support to allow for organ donation arrangements to be made. Her family described her as a compassionate and outgoing person who had worked as a certified nurse assistant since graduating from a Job Corps program as a teenager. She was inspired to enter the nursing field after her grandmother passed away from lung cancer and had plans to continue her studies to care for hospice patients.
The shooting that claimed Tashari Nelson's life also left another woman with a gunshot wound to the head; she was taken to the hospital in a private vehicle and was expected to recover. According to police reports, Nelson had called a male acquaintance for a ride after being attacked. As the man arrived to pick her up, an unknown assailant opened fire, causing him to take cover. When the shooting ceased, he found Nelson lying in the street.
As of the latest available information, no arrests have been publicly announced in connection with the murder of Tashari Nelson, and no suspects have been officially named. The investigation into her death continues.
