KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Members of the community gathered along Prospect Avenue on Friday to collect money to help the children of a Kansas City, Missouri, woman found burned beyond recognition, and to hopefully help catch the killer responsible for the brutal crime.
The body of Andrea Shields, 38, was found burning in a lot near 19th and Brooklyn on May 14th. She left behind six children between the ages of three and 16.
On Friday, friends and family of the slain woman say that she had her share of problems, but nothing that justified her murder – let alone setting her body on fire. The children’s aunt, Mattie Carter, now faces the difficult task of raising Shield’s children along with her own, and she says that she doesn’t have enough money to care for two more kids and bury their mother.
“She was like a sister to me,” said Carter. “This has been a great ordeal with these kids. I’ve been there for them.”
The brutal nature of the crime touched a chord with people along Prospect on Friday, as many stopped to give money.
“we want the killer caught,” said one man who calls himself “Big Mike”. “We don’t want them running around in our neighborhood burning up our sisters. We love our sisters, we love our people. That’s how it is with us.”
The murder has some in the community coming together to demand a change in street culture.
“Someone who’s caught up in this ideology that’s governing our streets right now that says that it’s okay – it’s not okay. It is not okay,” said Lamar Vickers.
“All of this, it’s not on the police department. It’s on our community,” said Pat Clarke. “The fact is we look for the justice in this, but it’s just us that’s doing these crimes. It’s just us that’s committing these murders.”
