‘Completely devastated’: Family asks for help burying teen fatally shot in Kansas City
Family members of a 14-year-old fatally shot last week in Kansas City are asking for financial help to bury the young teen.
On Wednesday, Derrick Thurman was found suffering from gunshot wounds at about 5:35 a.m. near a home in the 8300 block of Wayne Avenue in the Marlborough Heights-Marborough Pride neighborhood, a spokesperson with the Kansas City Police Department said.
The child was declared dead at the scene.
“He was always the kid trying to do the right thing,” Thurman’s father, also named Derrick Thurman, wrote in a GoFundMe online fundraiser. “This has left me and my family completely devastated. I am asking for assistance with funeral expenses and any amount big or small will be greatly appreciated.”
As of Sunday afternoon, about $900 had been raised.
His killing marked the 81st homicide in Kansas City this year, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings.
Anyone with information on Thurman’s killing is asked to call detectives at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477). There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information provided to the TIPS Hotline that leads to an arrest in the case.
Kansas City police are working with Partners for Peace in all of the city’s homicide investigations to monitor risks for retaliation and to provide social services to those affected.
