Kansas City police open homicide investigation after cutting victim dies in hospital
Kansas City police are investigating a homicide Wednesday after a man injured last month by a cutting instrument in the East Community Team North neighborhood died of his injuries.
The medical examiner’s office determined the death was a homicide, Capt. Corey Carlisle, a KCPD spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday. The victim was identified as 59-year-old Lambert Smalls.
Around 9 p.m. on Aug. 22, Kansas City police officers were dispatched to the Gabriel Towers at 1600 Jackson Ave. Smalls was found suffering from “apparent bodily trauma” in the parking lot, according to police.
A suspect, whose identity was not disclosed by police, was taken into custody at the scene. Detectives determined there was a disturbance between Smalls and the suspect that led up to the killing.
The killing marks Kansas City’s 139th homicide of 2023, according to data maintained by The Star. The city remains on pace with the homicide record set in 2020, when 182 people were killed.
It was unclear Wednesday whether Jackson County prosecutors had charged anyone in connection with Smalls’ death.
This story was originally published September 6, 2023 at 7:17 PM.
