On a brisk November evening in Kansas City, Missouri, just a day before families were to gather for Thanksgiving, tragedy struck the home of Arthur L. Mourning. The 49-year-old father of six, affectionately known as 'Lee Lee' to his loved ones, was fatally wounded in a senseless act of violence on November 23, 2016. The incident, which marked the city's 110th homicide of the year, unfolded in the 3100 block of East 49th Street.
Reports from that evening detail a harrowing sequence of events. A knock at the door led to a confrontation with an armed individual. The encounter escalated into a robbery, and in the course of the crime, Arthur Mourning was shot. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries later that night, leaving a void in the hearts of his family and friends. His sister painfully recalled that their last conversation was a playful argument about who would get the last of their mother's banana pudding at the Thanksgiving dinner he would tragically never attend.
Arthur L. Mourning was a man deeply rooted in his community. He had grown up in the very area where his life was cut short, a neighborhood he loved and where he had built a life surrounded by friends and family. A graduate of Paseo High School, he was a familiar and cherished face to many. Remembered as a devoted father, his sudden and violent death sent shockwaves through the community, leaving his six children to navigate a future without him.
In the years following the shooting, the quest for justice has been a painful and frustrating journey for Mourning's family. Despite the initial investigation and appeals to the public for information, as of August 2019, no arrests had been made, and no suspects had been publicly identified in connection with his murder. The case remains an open wound for his family, a stark reminder of a life taken too soon and a plea for answers that have yet to come.
