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Kansas City woman charged with murder in alleged revenge shooting

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Posted at 2:16 PM, Jan 19, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-19 15:17:22-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City woman charged with murder carried out the deadly shooting because she believed the victim killed her brother, according to court documents.

Tityana Coppage, 21, is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 36-year-old Keith Lars.

Lars was shot and killed in a series of events that ended at Admiral Boulevard and Virginia Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, on Jan. 13.

According to charging documents, Coppage allegedly shot at Lars because she believed him to be involved in the shooting death of her brother.

Jayson Ugwuh, 16, was shot and killed on Jan. 10 in the 5600 block of Paloma Avenue. He was the third juvenile homicide victim in the family in recent years.

His aunt, Aishah Coppage, confirmed that her son, 8-year-old Montell Ross, and nephew, 9-year-old Jayden Ugwuh, were killed in 2016 while playing video games. Police believed the shooting to be targeted, but that the children were not the intended victims.

The shooting incident that claimed the life of Lars started near Benson Boulevard and Thompson Avenue, where police later found 23 shell casings of two different sizes.

Witnesses told KCPD officers that someone shot from a black SUV at two men, with one man returning fire. That is when Lars was shot. A witness helped get Lars in the car and he was driven off by the other man.

According to documents, that car later arrived in the area of Admiral Boulevard and Virginia Avenue, where the driver asked for help and witnesses tried to assist, but first responders declared Lars deceased.

The documents also stated it was not the first time Lars was shot at and that his family said someone was looking for him for the death of that person's 16-year-old son.

Before the deadly shooting, Coppage allegedly asked Lars to meet up another time and jumped in front of his vehicle while someone else shot at him. Lars wasn't hurt in that instance.

Video footage from the deadly shooting helped police arrest Coppage.

Documents stated that Coppage told police she knew where Lars would be and met up with him. He told her to follow in her vehicle where they arrived at a parking lot. She said that Lars exited his vehicle and approached hers when another vehicle pulled up.

Coppage told police Lars pulled out a gun and shot at the vehicle that had pulled up, according to records. She said she went to exit her vehicle and was going to shoot, but Lars told her to stay where she was. She said she then fired out her passenger window at the vehicle and Lars was caught in crossfire.

The court documents also showed that Coppage denied being at the first incident where Lars was shot at but not injured and that she claimed she tried to meet up to settle things before Lars and Coppage's father killed each other.

Further investigation revealed Coppage's gun matched the gun used at the scene of Lars' shooting.

Documents also show that Coppage's cellphone showed texts asking someone called "Auntie" for bullets and another sent after the shooting saying, "LOL I used to many on bro."

Another text was sent to her deceased brother's phone saying, in part, " ... I owe em that body," records showed.

For jurisdictions that utilize the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, anonymous tips can be made by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com.

Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the 41 Action News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the 41 Action News Mug Shot Policy.