On the evening of January 13, 2014, police in Kansas City, Missouri, were dispatched to a reported shooting in the 2900 block of East 22nd Street near Montgall Park. Upon arrival shortly before 9:00 p.m., officers approached a vehicle parked at the scene and discovered the body of 21-year-old Darrin Deon Duncan, an African American male, slumped in the driver's seat. He had sustained a fatal gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the location by emergency responders. Known to friends and family by the nickname 'Tank,' the young man had just left a nearby residence when the attack occurred.
Investigators processed the scene and appealed to the public for leads, but the case quickly grew cold. Despite the efforts of the Kansas City Police Department, no suspects were immediately identified, and witnesses reported only limited details, such as seeing a vehicle flee the area. For over a year, the homicide remained listed as unsolved, with no arrests made in connection with Darrin's death. The lack of answers left the grieving family without closure as they navigated the loss of the young father.
The tragedy for the Duncan family deepened eighteen months later when Darrin's father, 45-year-old David J. Duncan, was also killed in a shooting. In September 2015, the elder Duncan was gunned down in the front yard of his home in Independence, Missouri. While Darrin's murder had yielded no charges, federal authorities later identified a suspect in his father's case. DeMarko L. Collins was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison on firearms charges after a judge determined he was involved in David Duncan's death, which authorities believed stemmed from a feud. However, police reports indicated that Darrin's 2014 murder remained a separate, unsolved investigation with no formal charges filed against any individual for the crime.
