OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Police say they arrested a suspect on Friday afternoon in 28-year-old old Anthony Shuster’s homicide. Shuster was shot to death at the Lodge Apartments near Metcalf and West 107th on Thursday afternoon.
Shuster’s mom says she’s devastated that her son, the oldest of three kids, is dead.
“My son was an awesome man. He loved his children, he loved Kayla, he loved his family, he was the rock of the family,” said Toni Maltbia.
Police were called out to the apartments for on an armed disturbance. When they got on scene, they found Shuster dead inside an apartment. A woman was grazed by a bullet, but is expected to be okay.
“Nobody heard anything except for the shots,” said his cousin, Falysha Roa.
She says Shuster lived there with his fiancé, Kayla, and their newborn baby.
“Kalahni was born October 16 of last year, she`s only 3 months old,” Maltbia said.
Police say this was not random; the suspect and Shuster knew each other.
“There`s no beef, there`s no… even his brothers and friends don`t understand it, and they all know each other, they`re all familiar with each other, nobody understands why it happened,” said Roa.
Shuster has two other young children, and would have turned 29 in March.
“He`s so proud of his children, you know, and his kids are going to suffer, we`re all suffering,” Maltbia said.
Shuster’s family says he has gotten into trouble in the past, but say they have no idea why anyone would want him dead.
“When he was younger, you know, he had his dealings, you know what I mean, but he settled down, and he started turning his life around,” Maltbia said. “He left the family broken, and he left three precious babies without a father, and he left Kayla without a husband, and a man, and a provider.”
“Just because you may have seen what he`s done in the past, or what you think you know, or what you`ve heard from people, nobody really knows Anthony except for his family and people that have been close to him for years,” said Roa.
On Saturday, Johnson County prosecutors charged Michael Collins Smith with first degree murder, as well as attempted first degree murder and aggravated endangering a child.
