Woman dies after weekend shooting outside midtown business; Suspect found dead in Kansas
A 33-year-old woman has died after being shot over the weekend exiting a midtown Kansas City business, and her suspected killer was found dead of an apparent suicide, a police spokesman said.
The woman killed in the shooting was identified identified as Courtney L. Wickman, said Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department.
The investigation into the shooting revealed that Wickman, whose birthday was just days earlier, was not the intended target of the gunfire, Becchina said.
Wickman was fatally wounded just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday as she exited a business at 3835 Main Street. Officers responding to reports of a shooting found her unresponsive outside the business, Becchina said. Emergency medical workers took Wickman to a hospital with critical injuries, where she later died.
Witnesses told police that a person fired multiple shots from the parking lot towards the business as Wickman and others were exiting, Becchina said. The person then fled the scene.
Detectives identified the suspect as 19-year-old Katera R. Mayfield, and Jackson County prosecutors charged Mayfield with assault.
When help of the Osage County Sheriff’s Office, authorities found Mayfield, who they believe died by suicide. The Osage County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Mayfield’s death.
Wickman’s killing was Kansas City’s 154th homicide of 2023, according to data maintained by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. There were 144 killings by this time last year, which ended as the second-deadliest year on record with 171 killings.
In 2020, 182 lives were lost, the most homicides ever recorded in Kansas City. There were 159 killings by this time in 2020.
