Wyandotte County DA Mark Dupree vows to act ‘accordingly’ in fatal KCK police shooting
Addressing concerns cast upon the investigation of the fatal shooting of Amaree’ya Henderson by a Kansas City, Kansas, police officer, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree on Wednesday vowed his office would act “accordingly” once a review of the case file is complete.
An investigative file from the Kansas City Police Department, the outside agency tasked with reviewing the deadly use of force, has been submitted to his office. As Henderson’s family and some community members have called for greater transparency, including a public release of police body camera footage, Dupree said his office will follow Kansas law.
“The law does not allow us to release information to ongoing investigations, especially those that we have not reached a determination,” Dupree said, adding of the charging decision: “If there was injustice done, and there was a crime, my office will do accordingly. But if there was not, my office will do accordingly.”
“And at the end of this we have an ethical obligation to the citizens of this county,” Dupree added. “Despite emotions, despite my color, despite how I feel, despite who the victim may or may not be. We must do what is right by all citizens.”
Dupree, the only Black district attorney in the state, spoke during a meeting of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas Unified Government’s Law Enforcement Advisory Board, a group appointed to evaluate racial biases in policing and make policy recommendations. The meeting agenda Wednesday included an open discussion of the case.
On April 26, Henderson, 25, of Independence, was behind the wheel of his car when he was shot and killed during a traffic stop in the 1100 block of Metropolitan Avenue, near the 12th Street Bridge that crosses the Kansas River.
Police have said Henderson was killed when a “confrontation” arose, and have declined to share many of the surrounding details. His family and lawyers say Henderson was unarmed and did not present a threat to police.
Meanwhile, his family has questioned why Henderson was stopped and how the encounter escalated. Henderson, who is Black, was driving for DoorDash that night, his mother and girlfriend previously told The Star, and harbored a general fear of police that stemmed in part from an encounter years before when he was unjustly arrested and beaten.
On the night he died, Henderson called his mother over FaceTime and asked her to come to where he had been pulled over. She was on the phone, driving there, when she overheard gunfire.
Sitting in the passenger seat was Henderson’s girlfriend, Shakira Hill. After Henderson refused to get out of the car, Hill recalled, the officer crawled inside and started “grabbing, pulling, punching” him as the car started to move. Moments later, Henderson was shot twice.
During a public comment portion of the government meeting Wednesday, Pauletta Johnson, Henderson’s mother, said her son was not a criminal or a “street kid.” She said she felt misled by police about the availability of the footage, calling for the video to be released.
“You took my only son away from me,” Johnson added. “That I cannot get back. You took the light out of our world.”
The family has since hired attorneys Nuru Witherspoon and Kay Harper Williams to represent them. The lawyers say they intend to file a civil suit on behalf of the family.
Based on their independent investigation, Harper Williams said Henderson appeared to have been shot — including once in the face — from the side of the vehicle when the police officer was not at risk of being hurt.
The attorneys asked why the family has yet to be presented with bodycam video of the shooting and when that will happen.
Kansas City, Kansas, Police Chief Karl Oakman, joining the meeting by Zoom on Wednesday, said a private viewing of the video would be arranged with family in accordance with state law, which contains strict provisions concerning public disclosure.
Oakman said the video should be made available within 20 days of the formal request from the family so long as there is an opportunity for KCKPD to make redactions.
This story was originally published May 10, 2023 at 10:41 PM.
