On the afternoon of Wednesday, July 12, 2023, the quiet of a Kansas City, Missouri neighborhood was shattered by gunfire. Officers from the Kansas City Police Department rushed to the area of East 45th Street and South Benton Avenue around 12:30 p.m. following reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, they discovered an unresponsive individual lying in the street, suffering from gunshot wounds.
Emergency medical personnel transported the victim to a nearby hospital for urgent treatment, but despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
The victim was identified as Phillip Martin Holoman, a 62-year-old male. Investigators at the scene determined that Holoman had interacted with another individual just prior to the shooting. This person of interest remained at the location when law enforcement arrived and was subsequently taken into custody for questioning by detectives. Authorities stated at the time that they were not looking for any additional suspects in connection with the incident, indicating that the situation was likely contained to the interaction between the two men.
Community members and local leaders expressed dismay at the violence in the Oak Park neighborhood, a specific area known to many longtime residents. Rosilyn Temple, the founder of Kansas City Mothers in Charge, was present at the scene to offer support, a somber ritual in the wake of such tragedies. Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forté also visited the site, remarking on the disheartening nature of the violence in a neighborhood where he had spent time as a child. He noted that conflicts which might have once been settled with words or a fistfight had escalated to lethal force, describing the pattern of violence as a slow-motion mass murder affecting the community. Holoman’s death marked the 107th homicide in the city for that year.
