KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Another child murder has community activists back on the streets of Kansas City, Missouri, with renewed tenacity and a few thousand flyers.
“We need that one tip,” volunteer Ron Hunt said.
Hunt and others spent part of Wednesday evening handing out flyers with the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline number, 816-474-TIPS (8477), on it to remind people reward money is available for information in the murder of 1-year-old -old Tyron Payton.
“$35,000," Hunt said. "$35,000 to get a thug off the street."
Just one tip with the right information could lead to an arrest in the latest child murder case to rock Kansas City in 2020.
"A 1-year-old didn't make it to 2,” Tony Caldwell with the Justice and Dignity Center said. “That's a problem. We have to draw the line in the sand somewhere."
The line Wednesday was drawn at East 31st Street and Prospect Avenue, where Caldwell and several others passed out thousands of flyers.
An activist gave a flyer to a mother who knows the pain of gun violence after her son was killed several years ago.
"And it still hurts ...," Patricia Samora said as she was stopped at a traffic light. "I can imagine how the mother of a little kid feels. If I hear something, I'll call."
Caldwell is convinced someone saw Tyron's murder.
"I know they did," Caldwell said. "You cannot shoot that many times at a car and nobody know nothing. That was a coward that did it, and you're a coward if you're covering up for that person."
So far, KCPD's Homicide Unit has received only a few tips.
"You need to be a witness," Caldwell said. "If you saw something, you need to tell about it before it happens to your house, before it happens to somebody in your family."
Caldwell and other volunteers with his group will tell you they’re out here too often asking for tips, but this is the first time it’s been for the death of such a young child.
"Here's a baby that didn't get to play ball, ride a bike, walk literally," Caldwell said. "And you take their life? We've got to do better Kansas City. We have to."
Caldwell personally added $10,000 to the reward fund, which increased it beyond the usual $25,000 for anonymous information that leads to an arrest in a KCMO murder case.
