KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 21-year-old Lenexa woman is in police custody in connection to the drive-by shooting death earlier this month of 16-year-old Traelynn Sibley.
Around 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, Traelynn was inside of a home in the 3600 block of Norton Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri.
Traelynn was at a vanity inside the home helping to fix another girl’s hair when a barrage of bullets struck the home.
Traelynn was struck by the gunfire and ran to the bathroom, where she collapsed.
Police were called to the scene shortly thereafter and located Traelynn suffering from a gunshot wound. She was transported to an area hospital, where she died from her injuries.
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On Friday, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged Bailey Lewis, 21, with second-degree murder, three counts of accessory armed criminal action and two counts of accessory unlawful use of a weapon, shooting from a motor vehicle at a building.
Court documents filed in support of the charges detailed the moments before the shooting inside the home, where Traelynn, another female, two adult males and a toddler were inside.
Police detectives recovered numerous 9 mm shell casings on the street in front of the home. They located numerous bullet holes in the home and a car that was parked in the driveway.
Detectives spoke to those who were inside the home at the time. No one was initially able to provide suspect information because they did not see the shooter.
According to court documents, police used city traffic cameras to develop a gray 2025 Hyundai Elantra as the vehicle from where the shots were fired.
The cameras were able to track the vehicle, allegedly driven by Lewis, to a convenience store in the 3900 block of E. 31st Street. Lewis entered the store wearing a full head/face mask, but was asked to pull it down by the station clerk.
With the potential identity of the shooter in hand, detectives went back to the people who were inside the home during the shooting and learned that at least one of the people had previously been associated with Lewis. The person told detectives they broke off the association because she did not like the way Lewis acted.
In a follow-up interview with another person inside the home during the shooting, detectives learned that the person had a “falling out” with Lewis because Lewis had let her get “jumped" at a gas station months before the deadly shooting. The person also told police that Lewis had recently posted about her new Hyundai car on her Facebook page.
During their investigation, police discovered that around 9:45 p.m. on Aug. 9, officers had responded to the 6600 block of Monroe Avenue on reports of a shots-fired call. Officers located shell casings in the street and damage to a building. Surveillance video reviewed during the incident revealed a Hyundai driving past the building twice, with shots being fired the second time the car drove by.
The Hyundai was next located around 10:30 p.m. near the home where the drive-by gunfire struck and killed Traelynn. Ballistics testing revealed the shell casings recovered from the two scenes were fired from the same weapon.
Detectives learned that Lewis had filed a loss report one month before the homicide in which she called police for assistance.
Police were able to obtain a search warrant for the location data associated with the cell phone number Lewis provided in that report. The location data showed Lewis’ cell phone was at both shooting locations at the times the shootings were reported.
Lewis was taken into custody early Thursday night, Aug. 28, in Independence. She remains in custody on a $400,000 bond.
Court documents indicate she was driving the same Hyundai Elantra that was seen in earlier videos. A handgun and cell phone were in plain view inside the car when she was arrested.
Traelynn’s death was listed as the city’s 100th homicide of 2025.
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