In the late morning of November 10, 2017, Kansas City police were called to a home in the 4900 block of East 17th Street following a report of a shooting. Inside the residence, a grim discovery was made. Officers found two deceased individuals and a third victim who was gravely injured and would later succumb to her injuries at a local hospital. The victims of the triple homicide were identified as 30-year-old Victor Portillo, 30-year-old Jennifer Zimmerman, and 25-year-old Yessenia "Yoshi"
Ahumada. All three had been shot.
The investigation into the killings quickly focused on a potential suspect named Deaundre Brown, who was identified as an ex-boyfriend of Ahumada. A witness at the scene told detectives that Ahumada had recently reconnected with Brown. According to the witness, Brown had arranged to purchase 20 pounds of marijuana from Portillo for $34,000. The night before the shooting, Brown and another unidentified person followed Ahumada and the witness to the house on East 17th Street, where Brown was introduced to Victor Portillo and Jennifer Zimmerman.
The planned drug transaction appears to have been the motive for the deadly encounter. Evidence gathered by investigators suggested that the triple homicide was the result of an attempted robbery. Deaundre Brown was subsequently charged with three counts of second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Victor Portillo, Jennifer Zimmerman, and Yessenia Ahumada. He also faced charges of armed criminal action.
