KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Halfway through 2023, Kansas City is once again on pace to record one of the deadliest years in city history.
The deadliest was in 2020, when the city had 179 homicides.
Some people might remember these statistics.
"May 22 — Monday morning," said Lisa Schroeder, Nykolett's Schroeder mother.
Now when she wakes up, she's reminded that her oldest daughter Nykolett was killed at an apartment in south Kansas City.
"I'm breathing today," Lisa Schroeder said.
People ask Lisa Schroeder everyday how she's getting through it.
"And you don't know what to say," she said. "I know people don't know what to say to me either."
While reading about the violence in Kansas City, Schroeder didn't initially realize she was actually reading about her daughter.
"I was like, 'Man, there's another female now out there,' not knowing I'm reading my own child's article," she said. "That was painful. I didn't get notified until almost 8 to 8:30 at night. There was no ID on her."
Nykolett Schroeder had so much life ahead of her.
"She was 24," Lisa Schroeder said. "Had three kids — five, four and three. She had a zest for life; very loud, [she] had a loud laugh."
Her mother shared many firsts, that are now their last moments.
"That's why I was around so much during pregnancy and birth," Lisa Schroeder said. "It was such a big deal to be close during that time, she would ask mom what about this what about that?"
Now she's asking the community to end a cycle of kids without parents and parents without kids.
"You gotta stand up, gotta stand up," Lisa Schroeder said. "Gotta speak out. Gotta do better."
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