‘Why did you pick her?’ father grieves as he pleads for help to find accused killer

Moments after hearing that his daughter had been shot, Mike Addison rushed to Swope Parkway and Benton Boulevard to his daughter’s car, where he held Isabell Addison in his arms as she took her last breath.

“I just thought, ‘Why?’ ” Mike Addison said Monday, months later. “Why did you pick this car? Why did you pick her?”

In September, Jackson County prosecutors charged Anton Hunter in the April 30 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Isabell Addison. But Hunter, 19, remains at large. On Monday, police, prosecutors and the young woman’s relatives pleaded for the public’s assistance in helping locate Hunter.

“I just want the family of the suspect to please — I am begging you — to please turn this guy in,” Mike Addison said while choking back tears. “Please turn him in. If it was you and the shoe was on the other foot, how would you feel? Isabell didn’t deserve this.”

Hunter faces charges of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action and failure to report a shooting. Police said there was no connection between Hunter and Addison and the shooting appeared to be random.

As of Monday, Hunter had not been arrested, police said.

“A lot of families don’t get this. They don’t get a name. We are truly blessed today that we have a name of the person who did this,” Mike Addison said.

“So I am asking the family, ‘Please think if it was you up here, what would you want the community to do?’ ”

Anyone with information should call the Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477) or 911.

Addison was shot when Hunter opened fire at her car from the car he was riding in with his girlfriend, court records allege. Hunter’s girlfriend told police she did not know why he began shooting at the car. Shortly before that, the girlfriend and Hunter had an argument over french fries, she told police, according to court documents.

Addison had recently moved into her own apartment and was planning to continue her studies to become a nurse. At 16, she graduated from the Job Corps after attending Turner High School, where she played soccer.

Mike Addison described his daughter, the oldest of five siblings, as out-spoken, family-oriented and deeply driven. Isabell Addison took care of her younger siblings, making sure that their needs were met.

The teenager enjoyed taking selfies and was known by her friends and family as “Bella.” She loved to dance, and in 2015, she joined the Marching Cobras, according to her obituary.

“I am going to miss her so much, so much,” he said. “Things are so different without her.

“Life goes on and we are trying to go on but we need the public’s help. This violence has to stop. It was senseless,” he said.

Multiple shots were fired. Bullets ripped through Addison’s chest and jaw. Police found four shell casings at the scene and five in the car Hunter had been riding in.

The teen’s death was not the first time the Addison family has experience such a traumatic loss.

On Jan. 20, 1989, an arson fire at 3032 Olive St. killed six members representing four generations of the Addison family, including three children and an invalid grandmother.

Prosecutors charged Aaron Fraizer, a neighborhood bully, in the deaths. He was sentenced to six life terms.

GoFundMe and YouCaring pages have been set up to help the family in the aftermath of Isabell Addison’s death.

This story was originally published October 16, 2017 at 12:49 PM with the headline "‘Why did you pick her?’ father grieves as he pleads for help to find accused killer."