On August 8, 2019, a young Black woman named Queena Andrews, 21 years old, died in Kansas City, Kansas, in the apartment she shared with her boyfriend. The cause of her death was a gunshot wound to the head. In the immediate aftermath, the circumstances surrounding the shooting were murky, with initial reports suggesting the police were investigating it as an accidental death.
This conclusion, however, was quickly challenged by those who knew and loved Queena.
Queena's mother, Nikita Union, was adamant that her daughter's death was no accident. She publicly voiced her belief that Queena was the victim of a homicide. Her conviction stemmed from inconsistencies in the account given by Queena's boyfriend and information he had shared with other family members. According to Union, her daughter's boyfriend had told a family member that he and Queena had been arguing and that a "tussle" had occurred before the gun was fired. This stood in stark contrast to the initial narrative of an accidental shooting. The boyfriend had reportedly told police that Queena was playing with the gun in another room when it discharged.
Fueled by the family's persistent calls for a more thorough inquiry, the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department shifted the focus of their investigation. What was once considered a potential accident was now being treated as a homicide. Despite this change in the investigation's direction and the questions surrounding the boyfriend's conflicting statements, there have been no publicly reported arrests or charges filed in connection with Queena Andrews's death in the years that have followed. The case, filled with unanswered questions and a family's enduring grief, remains without a resolution in the public record.
