KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A young father was gunned down on his way to work, and now Independence police are working to arrest the shooter.
Riley Youngblood, 23, was less than five minutes away from arriving to his lawn care business on Highway 40 when Independence police say someone in a dark Chevrolet pickup shot at Youngblood's truck near Valleyview Road last Thursday morning.
"What he was doing that day was providing for his family," said Brandon Roberts, Youngblood's uncle. "I don't know what for someone to do something like that to Riley. I can't even imagine."
Roberts, a firefighter, got the call from relatives to rush to Youngblood's bedside at the hospital.
"In my line of work, you see people like that and you know that it's not, it's not good," Roberts said. "And it was very hard to see my sister tell her son goodbye for the last time."
Born and raised in Blue Springs, Youngblood loved his Kansas City Royals and Chiefs. He shared that love with his seven-month-old daughter Kendall.
"He was absolutely only on cloud nine with his baby girl. And to see the man he became before to where he was after he had his daughter was extraordinary to see," Roberts said.
Youngblood died the same day he was supposed to be at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium watching the Chiefs take on the Buffalo Bills.
"And after they won, I said there's absolutely no way Riley didn't have something to do with that," Roberts said. "And one of my sisters texts back and said, 'Yeah, I can see Riley now laughing so hard.'"
In his passing, Youngblood gave life to others as an organ donor.
Youngblood's family has established a GoFundMe page to help raise his young girl.
"I would say this to the person who did it, you're a coward today because you are able to live your life. You took that away from a young man that had a daughter, that had everything in front of them. And I suggest that you come forward and confess to what you've done," Roberts said.
Officers have found the truck involved in the shooting and say they wouldn't be this far in the investigation without the tips they have been provided thus far.
They're asking for anyone who has any information about this case to call the TIPS hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
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For jurisdictions that utilize the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline, anonymous tips can be made by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
