Do you know who murdered Julius D Harris?
On the evening of February 28, 2017, the routine bustle of rush-hour traffic on Bruce R. Watkins Drive in Kansas City, Missouri, was shattered by gunfire that claimed the life of 36-year-old Julius D. Harris. A father of five who had recently begun attending church and was working to rebuild his life after a stint in federal prison, Harris was driving his SUV northbound along the highway, also known as U.S. 71, when he was targeted. Around 6:00 p.m., just as the evening commute was at its peak, the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system alerted authorities to multiple shots fired in the area between Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and 39th Street.
Responding officers discovered Harris’s vehicle pulled over on the exit ramp at 39th Street, where he was found suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. Despite the heavy traffic typically present on the highway at that hour, police noted that no witnesses initially came forward to describe the shooting itself. Investigators found evidence suggesting a rolling gun battle may have occurred, with shots possibly fired from both Harris’s vehicle and another car involved in the altercation. However, Harris was the sole occupant of his SUV when help arrived, and his family later disputed the notion that he was armed or exchanging fire, describing him as a man who had left his past behind to focus on his children and his auto mechanic business in Kansas City, Kansas.
Family members revealed that Harris had been on his way back to his shop after a scheduled meeting to pick up a car engine fell through when the seller failed to show up. His sister expressed disbelief that such a violent attack could happen on a busy highway without being seen, fearing that her brother had been set up. As of the available records, no arrests have been made in connection with his death, and the case has been listed among Missouri's unsolved homicides, leaving investigators to rely on forensic evidence and potential tips from the public to piece together the events that led to the tragic slaying of the devoted father on a crowded city expressway.
