KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A teenager’s body was found behind a south Kansas City waterpark Sunday afternoon, and her killer has yet to be caught.
Anger and sadness were among the reasons for a vigil honoring Alexis Kane. There are dozens of vigils every year for victims of homicide, but the vigil held Thursday night had a different tone. People in attendance were angry, angry that a 14-year-old was the latest to be killed and angry no one is stepping up to say who killed Alexis.
“What was the purpose of killing this 14-year-old girl? It’s mind-boggling,” said Alvin Brooks.
Brooks has gone to hundreds if not thousands of vigils and never has he been at a loss for words, but Alexis’ murder brought him close.
“It makes you say, ‘it’s crazy,’ because you don’t know what else to say. It’s crazy,” Brooks said.
A few minutes before the 6 o’clock vigil, a couple dozen people began to make a circle. A few minutes later, the crowd swelled to hundreds of people kept coming in waves, all to support visibly shaken and distraught members of Alexis’ family.
“No one knows how to deal with something like this until it happens, so having support from the community and from family and friends means everything to us,” said Alexis’ cousin, Glenn Mitchell.
Among the huge crowd of supporters was Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, who pleaded and then demanded people to join her in her anger.
“I need you to be a little angry when the child loses their life to violence,” she said.
Brooks often refers to suspect some killers and criminals as cowards. Thursday night, Peters Baker said they are the only ones deserving of that label
“People who have information about the homicide and don’t come forward, and you don’t tell police what happened, you’re a coward, too,” she said.
Alexis spent the night with friends on Saturday and they went to a convenience store where friends say she got into a car with two other men. Hours later, her body was found behind the The Bay water park in south Kansas City. If you have any information the reward is now grown to nearly $7,000. Call the TIPS Hotline to help investigators at (816) 474-TIPS. You can remain anonymous.