5 suspected in ‘tragic’ shooting of 30-year-old man in Kansas City area, sheriff says
A group suspected in a Kansas City, Kansas, homicide earlier this month are believed to have participated in a dozen other crimes in Kansas and Missouri, the Wyandotte County sheriff said Thursday.
Sheriff Donald Ash said five people were taken into custody in the killing of 30-year-old Skylar Needham, who was found on Aug. 15 suffering from several gunshot wounds in a car at Matney Park near Shawnee Drive and South 39th Street.
Ash did not name the five people, none of whom have been charged in Needham’s killing. Three of them have been released pending further investigation, Ash said during a news conference Thursday afternoon. They range in age from 19 to 22.
Three of the five people are men and two are women, Ash said. The five people are not related to one another, he added.
“We believe that we have the people, ultimately, that were responsible for this act,” Ash said. “I want the community to know that we’re continuing to work to ensure the community is safe.”
One of the suspects was a 22-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, man wanted on an arrest warrant out of Osage County for aggravated failure to register. He has been arrested by officials in that county. The other suspect is a 21-year-old man who had an arrest warrant for a parole violation out of Labettte County and is being held in Wyandotte County, pending the followup on the warrant and other investigations, Ash said.
The five people were initially taken into custody in the 1100 block of County Line Road late Tuesday afternoon, Ash said. The two that remain in custody are being held on warrants.
Ash called the group’s other crimes “violent,” but he did not detail them during the news conference.
The Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating a motive in the killing, which marked the 24th homicide this year in Kansas City, Kansas, according to data maintained by The Star.
The shooting unfolded at about 5:23 a.m. It is under investigation by the sheriff’s office because it occurred within a county park.
“This is a tragic loss of life, probably senseless as well,” Ash said, adding that he wanted Needham’s family and the community know that “we are all over this investigation.”
The investigation is ongoing.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 5:16 PM.
