‘Nobody has closure.’ Family wants answers a week after teen was fatally shot in Olathe
Every day since 15-year-old Brianna Higgins was fatally shot in Olathe, family and friends have gathered at her home in Lawrence to help each other cope with the loss.
Loved ones have brought supplies and food, and community members have donated to the family as they grieve the loss of a young teen they described as bubbly, energetic and outspoken.
“Being together with everyone makes us feel Bri’s love,” said Brianna’s friend Kamorah Beers. “That’s Bri bringing us together. It just helps us all get through it easier.”
Brianna died after she was brought to Olathe Medical Center last Friday with a gunshot wound, according to Sgt. John Moncayo, a spokesman for the Olathe Police Department.
Medical center staff contacted police after Brianna arrived around 10:51 p.m. Officers helped bring the girl into the hospital for treatment, but she was later pronounced dead.
Police later learned the shooting happened at Clarion Park Apartments in the 16900 block of West 127th Street.
All involved parties have been identified and contacted by police, Moncayo said.
But so far, there’s been no arrests. Brianna’s family said they still need closure.
On the day of the shooting, her aunt Ashley Gray said Brianna was at her home in Lawrence sleeping, when two acquaintances woke her and told her to go out with them.
Police told the family they talked to four people who were in the car that brought Brianna to the hospital after she was shot, Gray said. Those individuals haven’t been publicly identified by police.
Loved ones said they want more communication from police and to know someone will face consequences in Brianna’s killing. They’ve also been left to wonder why the people with her drove her to a hospital rather than calling emergency services, which they believe may have saved her life.
“Nobody has closure,” said Brianna’s aunt Charnell Revely. “We don’t know anything about what really happened. It’s literally tearing everybody up inside.”
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‘You knew you mattered’
Brianna could make friends with anyone, her aunt Ashley Gray said. When she greeted her friends and family — even if it was for the second or third time that day — she beamed.
She’d stay up late into the night with her older sister Iona Wakole, laughing and snorting at their own jokes. They wanted to be around each other, whether they were singing, playing games or just sitting bored, Wakole said.
She “rode hard” for the people she cared about and would’ve done whatever she could to help them or make them smile, Gray said. Brianna wasn’t afraid to speak up for others and make her opinions known, Gray said.
“It didn’t matter who you were or where you came from, she embraced you wholeheartedly,” Gray said. “You knew you mattered to that girl. That’s how she loved.”
Since they met in second grade, Justus Johnson said she and Brianna just clicked and had been friends ever since. Brianna was joyful and energetic, Justus said. Her voice and laughter boomed across rooms or even large stores. They’d spend hours dancing and listening to music in each other’s rooms.
Over the summer, Kamorah Beers said a week would never go by where she didn’t see Brianna. She would FaceTime Kamorah randomly to say she missed her and wanted her to come over.
On the softball field, Brianna was a star, her family said. She traveled across the Kansas City metro to compete in games and invitationals and earned college offers before she entered high school, Gray said. When her younger sisters started playing, she attended practices and taught the girls how to slide and pitch.
Brianna loved playing softball and spending time with her family so much that she joined her cousin’s baseball team as the only female player, committing to more games and practices on top of her already busy schedule.
Revely said Brianna would check on her often and loved to play with her five kids. Brianna had fun at Revely’s home, dressing up in her aunt’s clothes and recording viral TikTok and Fortnite dances they never posted.
But Brianna often seemed older than she was, Revely said. They had conversations, where Revely felt she was talking to an adult rather than a young teen.
‘It’s just sad’
In March, Brianna’s friend Kamarjay Shaw was shot and killed in Lawrence. While she often still kept a smile on her face, she had struggled with his passing.
Brianna visited Kamarjay’s grave almost every day to remember him and celebrate his life. She’d go with Justus or Kamorah and talk with him for hours.
“It’s just sad all these young kids that are affected,” Gray said. “It’s sad that they gotta be strong and go through this.”
Family started a GoFundMe to help pay for Brianna’s funeral and other expenses. As of Thursday, it has raised nearly $8,000.
