KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the span of one year, an Independence apartment complex saw three murders, four rapes and 14 abuse cases.
That high-volume of crime led to the community to reach out to Independence Mayor Eileen Weir. On Friday, Weir posted on Facebook, asking people to attend a meeting, "to learn about cooperative measures being taken to improve safety in this neighborhood."
Beth Domanski, who has lived at the apartment complex for 10 years, showed up, but she said, "Nothing at all was mentioned about the crime or how we're going to stop it, change it or whatever."
Instead, Hawthorne Place management highlighted financial coaching and career development programs, among other things. No mention from them or the council about the crime taking place there.
41 Action News ran a search through Community Crime Map using the address for Hawthorne Place. In 2017, it shows three murders, four rapes, 14 abuse incidents and dozens of cases of robbery and theft.
In December 2016, Phillip Diaz was murdered at Hawthorne Place. His mom, Lisa, told us she attended the meeting because "People shouldn't have to bury their children at any age and this city needs to step up and do something."
Domanski is upset that, "They didn't speak to any residents, they didn't ask questions, they didn't ask how we felt about anything."
When asked if she felt the council addressed the crime at the apartments, Weir said, "We didn't have a lot to necessarily report tonight, but I wanted to assure the community that those things are being looked at and ways that we can improve the safety in that area."
The mayor emphasized that the conversation is not over when it comes to the crime at Hawthorne Place. Domanski says when it comes to her home, "Just saying 'We're going to keep working on it,' that's not helping us now."
