A day after fatal KC shooting, family remembers active 3-year-old

When one of his younger brothers recently began crying, 3-year-old Amorian S.L. Hale prepared a bottle to feed and help calm the infant.

But Amorian, the oldest of four siblings, hadn’t mastered the routine he had seen his parents perform countless times. Amorian put too much water in the bottle, the boy’s mother, Monee McKinney, remembered Monday.

“I just said ‘No, baby, you have got to put more powder in there,’” McKinney recalled. “He just had water in there and was shaking it.”

McKinney cried as she remembered Amorian, who was killed Sunday morning when a drive-by shooter sprayed bullets into his home in the 6700 block of Walrond Avenue. The toddler was asleep in a first-floor bedroom in the rear of the yellow, two-story corner house when a bullet hit his head.

Three other children and two adults, including the boy’s parents, were also inside.

Police have made no arrests and have not said what prompted the shooting, which remains under investigation.

Mayor Sly James called Amorian’s death a senseless act by “armed idiots.”

On Monday, McKinney said her son was going to attend Holliday Montessori School. He enjoyed playing sports, devouring pizza and dressing up as a Power Rangers, his favorite television program. He leaves twin brothers and a 5-month-old sister.

The family, which had no life insurance on Amorian, has started a gofundme page to help pay funeral costs.

“He was soo energetic and goofy,” his mom posted on the page. “He was so excited to be a big brother and was taken too soon.”

Amorian was not afraid to display affection towards those he knew, said his grandfather Eric McKinney.

“He enjoyed hugging,” said Eric McKinney. “He would always acknowledge you when you would walk into a room. He would be a little bit shy at first but he would warm up to you real quick.”

On Sunday, a neighbor said Amorian and his family had moved into the house about three months ago.

Crime scene investigators marked more than a dozen bullet holes in the house, and police said bullets hit at least two other homes.

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (474-8477).

This story was originally published June 1, 2015 at 11:05 AM with the headline "A day after fatal KC shooting, family remembers active 3-year-old."