Six killed in separate homicides during violent weekend for the Kansas City area

Six men are dead after a bloody weekend in the Kansas City area.

The six were killed in separate homicides between Friday evening and early Monday morning, according to police.

Officials have released the names of five, who range in age from 15 to 51. No one else was injured in these incidents, according to officers.

The victims were found in homes, cars and outside a party. At least five died from gunshots.

In 2026, so far 53 people have died in homicides in the Kansas City area, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings.

Still, this is the lowest number of homicide deaths from Jan. 1 to May 4 since 2020, when The Star began counting. 2022 had the most homicides in that time frame: 88.

Here is information about each homicide in chronological order.

Zy’are Hamilton, 15, on Friday evening in Kansas City, Kansas

Officers responded around 6:06 p.m. to the 2800 block of Parallel Avenue on a reported shooting.

According to a news release, officers found Zy’are Hamilton inside a home suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. The teen was pronounced dead at the scene.

Michael Meyer, Jr., 43, on Saturday evening in Kansas City, Kansas

At approximately 6:30 p.m., Kansas City, Kansas, police officers were sent to the 300 block of North Valley Street where Michael Meyer, Jr. was unresponsive inside a home.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died. Detectives interviewed a person of interest.

Melchor Hinojos Carbjal, 51, on Saturday night in Peculiar

Police were called at approximately 10:15 p.m. to the Peculiar Lions Community Building, where a gathering was being held inside.

Melchor Hinojos Carbjal was shot outside the building and taken to Belton Regional Hospital, where he died.

Friends described Hinojos Carbjal as a “family man” with a “unique passion for horse racing.”

Unknown man on Sunday morning in Kansas City

At 1:15 a.m., the Kansas City Police Department received calls about gunshots fired near East 63rd Street and Manchester Avenue. While on their way, officers received information about a crash approximately a mile west of the reported gunshots, at East 63rd Street and Beacon Drive.

There, a car had gone off the road and a man inside appeared to have been shot. Kansas City Fire Department medics pronounced the man dead on the scene.

James Thomas, 34, on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City, Kansas

Officers responded shortly after 3 p.m. to a shooting at the Forest Glenn Estates apartments in the 6300 block of Sandusky Avenue.

There, officers found James Thomas inside a home suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

Craig Stone, 46, on early Monday morning in Kansas City

Officers responded shortly before 1 a.m. to reports of a shooting near East Gregory Boulevard and Interstate 435.

Arriving officers found a vehicle off the road on southbound I-435 with Craig Stone inside, who had been shot, and they started lifesaving measures.

An emergency medical crew from the Kansas City Fire Department took over medical care and took Stone to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

The Star’s Robert A. Cronkleton and Kendrick Calfee contributed.