Teen girl shot at KC apartment complex remembered as nice, quiet, sweet

A 16-year-old girl shot at an apartment complex in Kansas City was the granddaughter of a long-time area television reporter turned pastor, family members said Saturday.

Nearly three dozen people clad in red and black came together Saturday to pay homage to Alexis Mitchell, a 16-year-old girl who died Friday two days after being shot.

Alexis was severely wounded in a shooting Wednesday at the Park Meadows Apartments in the 7900 block of Manchester Avenue. Officers responding to the scene found the girl suffering from a gunshot wound. She was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries and died two days later.

Police said one person was taken into custody. They have not released a motive for the shooing or other details.

On Saturday, at C. Lee Kenagy Park in Raytown, most family members and friends were reluctant to speak on the shooting. Instead, they wanted to focus on Alexis, who was 10th-grade student at Raytown South High School. She was described as athletic, nice, and quiet with a fondness for the color red.

“She was a sweet girl,” a family friend said moments after a horde of red balloons were released into the air in Alexis’ memory.

Family members said Alexis’ grandfather was Rev. Thurman Mitchell, who left a career as a television newsman to become a minister in 1998. Thurman Mitchell, who died in 2000 at age 55, worked as a reporter for KCTV-5 from 1982 until 1998.

Alexis’ parents have been rocked emotionally by the shooting. Her mother, Lisa Mitchell, spent most of the vigil receiving hugs and kisses from a throng of well-wishers and supporters.

In a post on a GoFundMe page set up on behalf Alexis, Mitchell described the family’s pain.

“On Wednesday, Dec. 13, my beautiful baby girl’s 16 years of life came to a tragic end, leaving her parents and three siblings emotionally and mentally devastated,” Mitchell wrote.

The fund raised nearly $1,300 the first day it was posted.

This story was originally published December 16, 2017 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Teen girl shot at KC apartment complex remembered as nice, quiet, sweet."