On the evening of January 5, 2016, the life of 39-year-old Jerome Devon Simmons was tragically cut short in Kansas City, Kansas. This incident marked the city's first homicide of the year. Police were called to a residence near North 11th Street and Kimball Avenue around 7:25 p.m., where they discovered Simmons deceased at the scene from a fatal gunshot wound.
At least three women were also present in the home at the time of the shooting.
Shortly after the shooting, a man named Franklin Bryant Jr., who was 45 years old at the time, voluntarily surrendered to authorities at the Kansas City, Kansas Police Headquarters. He admitted to the killing and was promptly arrested. Two days later, on January 7, 2016, the Wyandotte County District Attorney's Office formally charged Bryant with second-degree murder in connection with Simmons's death. The motive for the shooting was not immediately made public by law enforcement.
Jerome Simmons, born in Kansas City, Kansas on July 21, 1976, was remembered as a man with a contagious smile and a generous heart. A 1995 graduate of Harmon High School, he had been an active member of the school band, where he played the trombone. Known as a devoted family man, his passing was mourned by his parents, two sons, four daughters, three brothers, his wife, and a wide circle of other relatives and friends.
