So, what’s been going on in and around Kansas City these days?
Oh, not much. Just…
:: Two guys getting gunned down by a guy who apparently chased them in a pickup truck while pulling a riding lawn mower on a trailer
:: Four teenagers and a 20-year-old luring a drug seller to location in Belton and fatally shooting him after giving him phony money
:: The Kansas City Chiefs giving domestic- and likely-child-abusing wide receiver Tyreek Hill a $54-million contract
Let’s take a closer look:
Lawn Mower Cowboy
We see a lot of inexplicable violence in and around the city, but an incident that took place Tuesday in southeast Kansas City has to rank as one of the most incomprehensible crimes in recent years.
Apparently it started with an argument at a gas station or convenience store between two guys in a black Mustang and one or more men in a Dodge Ram pickup pulling a trailer with a riding lawnmower and perhaps other maintenance equipment.
The lawn guy couldn’t let the beef go and gave chase in his pickup after the guys in the Mustang left the store or station. After pursuing the Mustang a few blocks, the lawn guy opened fire near 79th Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard and hit both occupants of the Mustang.
Both died — 21-year-old Jalen Stevens and 20-year-old Makih Briggs.
Here’s a freeze frame from video taken of the truck…If this truck looks like one your lawn guy drives, I suggest you 1) call the cops and 2) get a new mowing company.
Funny money but no laughing matter
Five people, including four teenagers, have been charged in the shooting death of 25-year-old Timothy Hunter Wednesday night in Belton.
Charged with second-degree murder (they should also be charged with being imbeciles) are Crishon Marquese Willis, 19, of Grandview; Makayla Marie Davis, 18, of Grandview; Shane M. Pierce, 20, of Kansas City; Alea Marie Campbell, 18, of Belton, and Andre Alonzo McKinney III, 18, of Kansas City.
Seems that those five idiots set up a marijuana buy from Hunter, even though he was known to carry a gun.
When they met up with Hunter, they gave him $100 in realistic-looking “prop money.” According to The Kansas City Star, the driver of the car in which the teens and Pierce were riding tried to speed away before Hunter realized the money was counterfeit. One problem: The car was in reverse and lurched backwards. Unfortunately, that gave Hunter time to step in front of the car as it moved forward, toward him. Hunter moved out of the way, but somebody inside the car fired a single shot that hit Hunter in the chest.
Just like that, what could have been a keystone cops incident — minus the guns — turned out to be a murder case, with one person dead and one or more of the assailants’ lives probably ruined.
The $54-million man
It’s a virtual certainty that either Chiefs’ wide receiver Tyreek Hill or his former fiancee, Crystal Espinal, seriously abused their young son at some point during the off season. Unfortunately, investigators could not establish who did what, and no charges were filed.
Hill is now not only back on the team but the Chiefs last week gave him a three-year contract extension worth $54 million. He promptly got hurt and is now out for at least several weeks. Even if he never plays another game, he’s in line to get at least $35 million in guaranteed money.
I don’t watch the Chiefs any longer, but I’m glad they’ve got Patrick Mahomes and that they are once again winning a lot more games than they’re losing. What I don’t understand is how anyone could enthusiastically cheer for Tyreek Hill, regardless of how many touchdowns he scores.
I’ve written before that the danger of permanent brain damage has turned me away from football. Another thing that troubles me is seeing so many more of these bad actors, like Hill, in pro football than in pro basketball, soccer or baseball.
I think we need to hold this question up to what remains of our civilized society: Is this a good sport to send our children and grandchildren into?
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
First, let’s talk about Hill (and many others in the NFL) who display this kind of abusive behavior. No on seems to wonder how so many well disciplined men seem to suddenly become completely undisciplined and behave like complete brutes towards their families. The simple fact is that this is exactly what the side effect of steroid use looks like. But to shut down steroid use would lower the performance of the entire league and cut into revenue so no one says anything except to mutter platitudes about what thugs these guys are in spite of their millions when they screw up.
Second, I would argue we have so much crime because the DA’s in both WYCO and Jackson Counties are gutless idiots. Trials now in WYCO are virtually non-existent. Don’t believe me, go ask a judge what their workload under the current moron is compared with what it was before. Talk to a cop, anyone involved with the criminal justice system. Everything is pleaded down to virtually nothing and so now you have drive-by shootings and rolling gun battles out as far as 75th and State and the kind of crimes you wrote about in Jackson County.
Replace these two morons with real DAs and watch the crime rates drop.
No comments about either of these sad, sad cases, but appreciation and admiration for your tireless, relentless pursuit of information. I’ve followed the Kara Kopetsky case from the beginning, all those years when her family had only hope to keep them going. These stories break our hearts, they are agonizing to read about, both agonizing and difficult to write.