Mother of murdered Kansas City man seeks answers, wants justice

For Jacqueline Bass, this year’s Thanksgiving dinner was particularly difficult.

The large family fest included turkey, ham, macaroni and cheese, mustard greens, chitterlings and fruit salad, but there was a void.

It was her son, Kendrick D. Anderson.

“He would’ve been making us all laugh,” Bass said. “He would been ready for a second plate before he finished his first plate.”

It has been nearly three months since Anderson was found gunned down near southbound U.S. 71 and Meyer Boulevard. Police found him after responding to car wreck. Anderson was fatally wounded two days before his 28th birthday.

On Monday, Bass and Kansas City police pleaded for the public’s help in solving the homicide.

“I want the community to know that the murderer is still out there,” she said. “I want the community to know that my son was a good person. He did not deserve to be murdered like this. I want the community to speak up and tell us what you know.”

Anyone with information should call the Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477). A $5,000 reward is available to anyone with information about the shooting.

Police said Anderson was driving to Swope Park on Sept. 4 when bullets ripped through the car he was driving. A witness inside the vehicle quickly fled.

There were several witnesses at the scene, police said, and investigators continue to develop suspect information.

“We believe they were friends of Mr. Anderson who were headed to the same location that he was headed to when this incident took place,” said homicide Sgt. Martin Cobbinah. “Unfortunately, for whatever reason they are not coming forward to provide us with statements.”

Anderson was working with an asphalt company and was the father of two girls and a boy.

Bass acknowledged that her son had faced legal troubles in the past. However, Bass said she does not believes those past crimes had anything to do with her son’s death.

“I think my son was set up and he was murdered,” she said. “No one is perfect. My son had a past. However his past had nothing to do with this murder.”

In 2012, Anderson was sentenced to five years in a Missouri prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter. In January, Anderson pleaded guilty to resisting arrest and possessing marijuana.

Bass said the pain over her son’s death has been unbearable.

“You wake up every day wanting to pick up the phone and call him,” she said. “You wake up every day thinking that he is going to ring your doorbell. It hurts that I will never see my child again.”

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Mother of murdered Kansas City man seeks answers, wants justice."