KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With the shooting death of 22-month-old Tyron Payton, there is a notable absence at East 33rd Street and Agnes Avenue.
"Typical little boy, yeah, I would see him all the time in his diaper, just a sweet little boy," Dominica Kemp, who lives on the block, said.
Kemp, as she left her home Monday, waved good-bye to Tyron's mother and later come home to a crime scene.
"It something awful when you know, violence happens like this, and a little boy has to lose his life," Kemp said.
She sends her condolences to Tyron's parents, who were also shot.
"They’re a decent family and you know, living over there and they took care of their business.," Kemp said. "And she was so proud of her little baby."
Kansas City, Missouri, police have yet to locate a suspect in Tyron's death. Monica Roberts, founder and executive director of Healing Pathway Victim Service Agency, said this should be a wake up call for the community.
"How many more children that we have to bury? How many more hashtags that we have to have on social media?" Roberts said.
Roberts is with one of the many victim advocacy groups providing support to Tyron's family.
"We know who's involved in these situations," Roberts said. "It's important for us to talk."
And speaking up is why several community activists, including Michael Rodgers, founder of Unite for Action, gathered yards away from Monday's shooting.
"We try to show the family that they're not in this situation by themselves," Rodgers said.
As community activists gathered and canvassed the block where the crime occurred, police said they have made no arrest, there is no person of interest and nobody has provided tips or information about Tyron's death.
"That baby was not the target," Desmound Logan, a community activist, said. "We know that. We’re tired of that, you know. I mean, so, we just want everybody to stay give us the same energy y'all got for somebody else that got killed by the police. You know, I mean, let's have that same energy when they kill these kids. You know, I mean, when is enough is gonna be enough?"
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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.
