‘They took him away.’ Family, police ask public for info one year after man killed in KC

A year after someone fatally shot her children’s father in Kansas City, Nicole is still searching for answers.

Last January, 45-year-old Maurice Ball died after a shooting in Kansas City’s East Meyer neighborhood believed to be a road rage incident, ending the life of a man who loved ones said put in the work to better his life after spending time in prison.

Ball was the third of 171 people killed last year in Kansas City, the city’s second deadliest year in recorded history.

“It’s not fair to his family. It’s not fair to my family,” said Nicole, who didn’t want to use her last name due to concerns for her own safety. “It’s not fair at all.”

At a news conference Wednesday, Detective Adison Waterman said officials haven’t found a suspect in the case, even after releasing a home surveillance video in April that shows a white SUV believed to be the suspect vehicle in the background.

“We’re re-releasing it,” Waterman said, “hoping that someone from the public will recognize it, or someone has loosened up and that it’s far enough out now.”

On Jan. 15, 2022, Kansas City police officers were dispatched to the 1800 block of East 78th Street on a report of a disturbance and the sound of gunfire. As the officers were responding, they were told a shooting had taken place, police said.

Officers found Ball inside a vehicle in the front yard of a residence suffering from gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical personnel.

Investigators believe Ball was shot while inside his vehicle and the car came to rest in the yard.

‘That’s not right’

In the days leading up to the killing, Nicole said she had seen and spoken with Ball a few times.

The day after he died, she heard about a man who had been shot the night before on the news, but never thought it would be someone she knew. Then at work, she got the call that it was Ball.

“That was the most devastating news that I could ever get in my life,” she said.

Overwhelmed with emotion, she left work early to be with her kids and try to process what had happened.

Nicole dated Ball on and off for 26 years. The pair raised a set of twins, who are now 23 and starting families of their own.

Nicknamed “Chuckles” by their kids, Ball was constantly cracking jokes and lighting up rooms, Nicole said. She said he was an amazing father with a big personality.

Ball spent around a decade away from his kids while serving a federal prison sentence for cocaine possession, but he was one of more than 100 inmates released early in 2016 due to an order from President Barack Obama commuting the sentences of non-violent drug offenders.

When he was released, Nicole said her kids didn’t recognize Ball at first. But she said they were excited to learn their father had come home.

“I’ve never heard my kids be so excited,” Nicole said. “They were like ‘My daddy’s home, mom. My daddy’s home.’”

After returning from prison, she said Ball had a clear plan to turn his life around. He earned his GED while incarcerated and later got his truck driving license. In the handful of years that Ball spent back with his family, Nicole said he never had another encounter with law enforcement.

Ball mentored younger family members, helping them find jobs and cautioning his son and nephews to avoid the mistakes he made. He told them how he hated being away from his family and kids while in prison.

Ball met two of his grandchildren in the month before he was killed. Two more have been born in the year since his death. Their daughter is expecting another baby any day, and because he’ll be born so close to the anniversary of Ball’s death, she sees him as a reincarnation of their children’s father, Nicole said.

But the joy of these new lives doesn’t erase the pain of losing Ball.

“These two babies and this other one that’s coming will never, never get to know him,” she said. “And that’s not right.”

Suspected road rage

In the year since Ball’s death, police have been unable to identify a suspect in his killing, despite having a video showing the shooting.

In the portion of the video released by police, the driver of the suspect vehicle opens his door, releasing steam or smoke. The vehicle then turns around, traveling south, and Ball’s vehicle can be seen traveling north.

According to detectives, the SUV and Ball’s vehicle stopped next to each other on the road, and loud voices can be heard. A person exited the SUV and fired several gunshots with his arm extended, Waterman said. Detectives also think there may have been another person in the vehicle with the suspect.

Police have not publicly released the portion of the video showing the shooting.

Officials believe the road rage incident happened just south of the Hickman Hills residence where the video was captured, since the SUV appeared to have damage to the front hood and smoke or steam coming from the engine. At the scene, officials also found damage to the back of Ball’s vehicle.

Before the shooting, footage from a nearby gas station showed Ball’s vehicle pull out from the business as the white SUV sped down the road. The video didn’t show a crash, but Waterman said snow and icy conditions as well as the damage that can later be seen to the white SUV led officials to believe there was a wreck.

Kansas City police ask that anyone who may have information about Ball’s killing call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or contact the TIPS Hotline anonymously at 816-474-TIPS.

Nicole also urged anyone with information to come forward. Arresting the person who killed Ball, she said, will give her family some closure after his death.

“They took him away from us,” she said. “I just want them to step forward. They took that bond away from me, my grandkids and my kids’ life.”