KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A teenager, now 17, pleaded guilty Nov. 6 in Jackson County Court in the shooting death of an 11-year-old girl in her Kansas City, Missouri, house.
Re'Mori Roath killed Kourtney Freeman when he fired several gunshots into a house on April 10, 2024, near East 33rd Street and Flora Avenue.
Police officers found Kourtney suffering from a gunshot wound to her head. She died a few minutes later at a hospital.
Freeman attended the Kauffman School, where she was involved in Kauffman Cares, a student group that worked to prevent violence.
“She really had love for people, and she would stand up for people. And for her to go that way was just heartbreaking,” Rikai Mason told KSHB 41 anchor/reporter JuYeon Kim.
Mason was also a member of Kauffman Cares.
“She was the number one student inside Kauffman Cares that didn’t like violence at all," Mason said.
Freeman also loved playing basketball.
A court document stated there were six other people in the house at the time of the murder. No one else was hit by the gunfire.
Gunfire shattered a glass storm door at the house. Detectives also found one spent 9mm casing on the front porch and 11 more spent shell casings around the yard and leading to the front porch, according to a court document.
There was bullet damage to the walls, and detectives found clear plastic baggies containing a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana on a table in the front living room.
Detectives used city surveillance cameras and other methods to nail down Roath as the suspect in Kourtney's murder.
Roath was arrested at a local school.
A search of the house where he lived revealed a Glock 17 9mm under a mattress with a fully loaded 31-round capacity magazine, according to a court document.
The search also turned up a red backpack with 19 live 9mm rounds in a clear plastic baggie and a plastic jar with a green leafy substance wrapped in clear plastic bags, the court document stated.
A test on the firearm found under the mattress revealed the bullet or bullets that killed Kourtney were fired from the gun at the murder scene.
Detectives also found Roath's DNA on the trigger of the murder weapon.
Roath will be sentenced on Jan. 26, 2026, in Jackson County Court.
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