Teen killed in Kansas City Sunday was older brother of 9-year-old fatally shot in 2016
A 16-year-old boy died Sunday after police found him inside a Kansas City home suffering from bullet wounds.
Kansas City police found Jayson Ugwuh Jr. Sunday evening after officers responded to a shooting just after 7:15 p.m. in the 5600 block of Paloma Avenue, said Officer Donna Drake, a spokeswoman with the Kansas City Police Department.
He was taken to the hospital where he later died of his injuries.
Drake confirmed that Jayson was the older brother of Jayden Ugwuh who was shot and killed in Kansas City just over four years ago.
In 2016 FOX4 reported that Jayson held his dying brother in his arms after bullets struck the 9-year-old’s body, killing him.
Jayden, and his cousin Montell Ross, 8, were fatally shot early one August morning in 2016 in the 5700 block of College Avenue as someone fired at least 20 gunshots inside their home.
Jayden and Jayson’s father told FOX4 shortly after the 2016 shooting that six children, including Jayson, were sleeping inside the home when a volley of bullets pierced through the walls at about 1:30 a.m. and struck Jayden and Ross.
“Didn’t even cry, just got hit and ran and laid up under his big brother, you know,” Jayson Ugwuh, Jayden and Jayson’s father, told FOX4 at the time. “Like he knew exactly where to go for comfort, you know what I’m saying.”
The younger Jayson told the TV station that his little brother “snuggled up to him.” When he looked down, Jayden’s eyes were still open.
Family for Jayson could not immediately be reached for comment by The Star on Monday.
The teen’s killing marks Kansas City’s fifth homicide of this year. Kansas City ended last year with 182 homicides, the most in the city’s history in a single year, according to data maintained by The Star.
Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to contact homicide 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 in the killing.
Gun violence will be the subject of a new, statewide journalism project The Star is undertaking in Missouri this year in partnership with the national service program Report for America and sponsored in part by Missouri Foundation for Health. As part of this project, The Star will seek the community’s help.
To contribute, visit Report for America online at reportforamerica.org.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 4:59 PM.
