In a tragic sequence of events, Wysaun Brown-Cooper, a 24-year-old man, lost his life following a shooting in Kansas City, Missouri. On the afternoon of September 17, 2023, police responded to a call in the 5700 block of North Jarboe Drive. Upon arrival, they discovered Brown-Cooper inside a parked vehicle, unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound.
He was immediately transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
The shooting occurred while Brown-Cooper was dropping off a woman at her residence in the Lakeview Terrace mobile-home park. The woman, who was the ex-girlfriend of the alleged shooter, told police she had been fearful of being seen with Brown-Cooper. As they pulled up and parked, her ex-boyfriend, identified as Malik A. Collins, approached the vehicle. According to the woman, Collins said something to the effect of, 'so this is what you're doing?' before she heard a gunshot. A witness also reported hearing a single gunshot and seeing Collins walk away with a firearm. The woman found Brown-Cooper bleeding from his neck and was applying pressure to the wound when police arrived.
Despite medical efforts, Wysaun Brown-Cooper succumbed to his injuries a week after the shooting, on September 24, 2023. Initially, prosecutors charged 25-year-old Malik A. Collins with first-degree assault while Brown-Cooper was still hospitalized with no signs of brain activity. Following Brown-Cooper's death, a Clay County grand jury indicted Collins on charges of first-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action. He was arrested and held in the Clay County jail on a $1 million bond.
