‘Absolutely devastating’: Mother killed in KC triple homicide while celebrating 28th birthday
Jasity “Jas” Strong was celebrating her 28th birthday doing what she loved: going out with friends and having a good time.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, a shooting broke out in the area of 57th Street and Prospect Avenue that took her life.
Her aunt Trish Mitchell said Strong, who was a mother of two and a certified nursing assistant, loved nightlife and having fun, just like many women her age.
“She was just out having a good time and wanting to ring in her birthday having a good time,” she said. “Then this took place, and it’s absolutely devastating.”
Officers responded just after 4:30 a.m. to the intersection, where they found two men and one woman shot and unresponsive in a parking lot and the street just south of the intersection, said Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman with the Kansas City Police Department.
Family members identified the other victims as Nikko Manning, 22 and Camden Brown, 27.
Five additional shooting victims were taken to different hospitals by ambulance or private vehicle and are believed to have injuries that are not life-threatening.
Including Sunday’s shootings, there have been 99 homicides in Kansas City so far this year, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. At this time last year, there had been 74 killings.
A dedicated caretaker
After Strong’s grandmother died in January, Mitchell started the Purple Gift Foundation to honor her mother’s love of children and the color purple. She organized volunteer days, known as Impact Days, every month to donate purple teddy bears to children at hospitals, clinics, foster homes and shelters.
Strong volunteered at every event.
Mitchell last saw her earlier this month during one of the Impact Days. When they didn’t see each other at family events, celebrations or volunteer days, they talked at least once a week over the phone.
Both professionally and in her personal time, Strong was a caretaker.
She watched as her grandmother’s needs were ignored at different facilities, which inspired her to become a certified nursing assistant and work at senior living facilities in the Kansas City area.
Strong was driven to treat her patients the way that she wanted her grandmother to be treated, Mitchell said. She made sure they were heard and cared for.
Strong was a dedicated mother to a 2-year-old son and an elementary-aged daughter. She loved to cook soul food for her son and spent time helping her daughter choose outfits for school. She always posted about family meals or her daughter’s outfits on social media, Mitchell said.
Making people laugh and have a good time was important to Jasity. She’d do anything to irritate her mom if it would make other laugh, Mitchell joked during an interview with The Star. She shared that while she and Strong’s mother were speaking today about their loved one, they remembered a time that Strong filmed herself jumping on the bed her mom was sitting on — all while singing a song that she made up.
“And this is a grown woman. She did this as a young adult,” Mitchell said. “It was just things like that she would do just to brighten people’s days and to get a laugh out of people even at her mom’s expense.”
Shooting investigation
The killings come about one month after a shooting at Klymax Lounge, 4242 Indiana Ave., just 2.5 miles away that killed three people and injured two.
By some definitions, both incidents could be considered mass shootings.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, an incident in which at least four people are injured or killed besides the shooter can be considered a mass shooting. Other organizations, like Everytown for Gun Safety, say that if at least four people other than the shooter are fatally shot, the incident is a mass shooting.
Police Chief Stacey Graves said it was frustrating that the city was involved in so many efforts to reduce violent crime, but the homicide rate continues to climb. She said some witnesses had not been cooperative and also said these investigations are difficult for the police department’s officers.
They see family members who are crying and “we absorb that,” Graves said.
Anyone who was in the area at the time and heard or saw anything is asked to contact homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477. A reward of up to $25,000 is available for information submitted to TIPS that leads to an arrest.
This story was originally published June 25, 2023 at 4:04 PM.
