KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Police arrested two people early Tuesday morning after officers spotted a car belonging to a man who was found beaten to death Monday in Seven Oaks Park.
The police pursuit ended near 46th Street and Benton Boulevard just before 4 a.m.
The two suspects, a man and a woman, crashed the car into a home as they tried to escape from police.
Relatives recognized the Chrysler 300 as belonging to 52-year-old Terry Hutton.
Police found Hutton’s body in Seven Oaks Park, near 38th Street and Kensington Avenue, Monday just after 1 p.m. Sources say it appeared that Hutton had been beaten to death.
His family says Hutton grew up in the neighborhood around the park and had many friends in the area. But that apparently did not prevent a group of men from robbing and killing him.
“It wasn’t like they were friends and they were fighting,” said Sharon Hutton, the victim’s mother. “It wasn’t a drug deal, it wasn’t anything like that. It’s just people want to take what other people have. They don’t want to get out and work, or try to do what they can to make it on theirselves. They just want to take it from other people. That’s the way it is.”
It’s not clear if the suspects taken into custody are involved in Hutton’s death. Police are saying only that they’re being questioned about the recent homicide. His family hopes that they are responsible for the killing so they won’t have to plead with the public for justice, as so many other victims’ families do.
Terry Hutton had two children, a girl and boy. He was supposed to help move his 18-year-old daughter to the University of Missouri in Columbia next month to begin college. Now, he’ll never see what she’ll become.
Hutton’s family has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for his funeral expense. Click or tap here if you’re interested in donating.