KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KCUR-FM, the National Public Radio affiliate in Kansas City, Missouri, announced the death of one of its reporters on Sunday.
The radio station reported Sunday that Aviva Okeson-Haberman, 24, died after suffering a gun shot wound in her apartment on Friday. The incident happened near the 2900 block of Lockridge Avenue.
We're saddened to report that KCUR's @avivaokeson has died after suffering a gunshot wound in her apartment. She was 24. https://t.co/77GDVx1aWN
— KCUR (@kcur) April 25, 2021
Okeson-Haberman joined the KCUR team in 2019 according to radio station.
“Aviva was brilliant,” KCUR news director Lisa Rodriguez said. “Even as an intern, her approach to storytelling and her ability to hold those in power accountable paralleled many a veteran reporter. She was quiet, which made it all the more satisfying to hear her challenge politicians and hold her ground, even when people in positions of great power tried to belittle her.”
"Our KCUR family is heartbroken over the tragic loss of our talented colleague, Aviva," KCUR general manager Sarah Morris told 41 Action News in a statement. "Her obituary that was written by her grieving colleagues captures so much about her bright spirit and promising future. While Aviva’s family, friends and colleagues are devastated by this, our grief is no more significant than all the other families who are suffering over the loss of their loved ones due to senseless gun violence. The best way we can honor Aviva is through our continued commitment to serving the greater Kansas City community through our journalism."
Several KCMO officials reacted and paid tribute to the death of Okeson-Haberman.
"Aviva was a creative, thorough, challenging, and insightful reporter," KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas said in part in a tweet. "Always prepared, she told the full and complex story of our city in one of the most challenging years in its history."
Aviva was a creative, thorough, challenging, and insightful reporter. Always prepared, she told the full and complex story of our city in one of the most challenging years in its history.
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) April 25, 2021
Her life showed us her compassion for those who too often were voiceless.
"Extending my sincere condolences on the loss of your colleague and friend," Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a tweet.
Extending my sincere condolences on the loss of your colleague and friend. https://t.co/vGyQirT9Ke
— Jean Peters Baker (@jeanpetersbaker) April 25, 2021
