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Kansas City-area clergy, KCPD, stand together with grieving mother

Mother of 23-year-old EraShae Johnson pleads for justice after her daughter died ten days ago
10.27 Press Conference
Posted at 7:42 PM, Oct 27, 2022
and last updated 2022-10-27 23:49:18-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Trinity Temple Church in Grandview is mourning the loss of a member of their flock - 23-year-old EraShae Johnson was shot and killed 10 days ago.

EraShae's mother pleaded for justice Thursday as she stood next to pastors and police.

"I won't be able to see her walk through the doors anymore," Aisha Johnson said at a Thursday press conference.

Johnson wants the city to know about her loving and caring daughter EraShae.

"My baby worked three jobs, she was working three jobs, and Monday, she got the job of her life," Aisha Johnson said. "She had been wanting this job to work with special ed children."

Her daughter never got to work at her new job.

Police found EraShae shot and killed in a wrecked car that Monday night.

"She didn't deserve to be taken like that, not ever," Aisha Johnson said. "She was a good girl."

The clergy, joined by members of the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department, stood alongside a grieving mother.

"You don't want to be a parent burying a child," Bishop Frank Douglas said. "I don't care if they're an adult child."

They say this is a rallying cry - to stand against violence, in the middle of another violent calendar year.

"We must come together as a community as we stand against violence, and we stand against homicide in our communities," says Bishop Ben Stephens.

Captain Everett Babcock

"We are actively following leads, there’s still stuff coming in, that’s good. My detectives are out there today," said Captain Everett Babcock of KCPD.

Those detectives working Shae's case say she is more than a data point.

"EraShae wasn't a number. She wasn't a news report," Captain Everett Babcock said. "She was a daughter, a sister."

Johnson's family will hold a celebration of life ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at Trinity Temple.