In the late hours of a Sunday evening, on December 3, 2017, 24-year-old Zachary Michael Lee Pearce was walking home from dinner with a friend in the vibrant Westport area of Kansas City, Missouri. Their path took them near the intersection of 40th and Walnut streets, just a block from the apartment where Zachary lived. It was there, shortly before midnight, that their night took a tragic and violent turn.
A dark-colored SUV, described by some witnesses as maroon and others as a blue 2000
Jeep Liberty with a large cargo carrier and Colorado license plates, pulled up beside the two men. At least two individuals, and possibly a third female driver, were inside the vehicle. One man, described as dark-skinned, exited the SUV brandishing a handgun and demanded their belongings. Both Zachary and his friend complied, handing over their wallets and cell phones in the hopes of a peaceful resolution. Despite their cooperation, the gunman fired a shot, striking Zachary. The assailants then fled in their vehicle, heading eastbound on 40th Street before turning south on Warwick Boulevard. Arriving officers found Zachary in the street, where he was pronounced dead at the scene. His friend was physically unharmed.
In the days and years that followed, the senselessness of the act became even more pronounced as investigators discovered that the stolen items had been discarded a short distance from the scene of the crime. The Kansas City Police Department opened a homicide investigation, which remains unsolved. A reward for information leading to an arrest has been offered and increased over time, with Zachary's family, friends, and law enforcement pleading with the public for any leads that might bring justice for the intelligent, warmhearted, and opinionated young man whose life was cut short. He was a student at MCC Blue River, studying to become a paralegal, and worked at his family's business. His loved ones remember him for his insatiable love of reading, his impressive vinyl collection, and the spirited debates he so enjoyed. The case of Zachary Pearce's murder continues to be a painful open wound for his family and the Kansas City community, a stark reminder of a promising life taken for no reason.
