Police investigate after south KC mother gunned down in the street near her home
Update: The deceased has been identified as Janette M. Johnson, 34.
Police are investigating a fatal shooting that left a woman dead outside her south Kansas City home Friday morning.
Kansas City police were called to the 6300 block of East 102nd Terrace around 9:15 a.m. Friday after neighbors in the area heard the sound of shots and saw a victim in the street, said Capt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department. When officers arrived, they found a woman in the street near a Jeep that was parked outside her home, according to police.
Kari Thompson, commander of the Kansas City Police Department’s South Patrol Division, said family members of the woman who was killed saw a vehicle that drove through the area and shots rang out. Life-saving efforts were attempted on the woman, but she died prior to officers arriving, Thompson said.
Thompson said the victim lived on the street where the shooting happened and described her as a mother and cosmetologist who was well-loved.
“No understanding as to why (the shots were fired),” she said. “We are still working with the family, who is significantly distraught, at this time to figure out what happened.”
Family members and police looked on in the rain Friday afternoon as the Jeep was pulled onto a flatbed tow truck and driven away.
Anyone with information about the shooting may contact police directly by calling 816-234-5043 or by calling the TIPS hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS.
The killing is Kansas City’s 41st homicide of 2025, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. By this time in 2024, the city had recorded 37 killings. The city ended last year with 147 homicides.
This story was originally published April 4, 2025 at 1:45 PM.
