KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Students at Paseo High School are honoring a life cut short, not because of the coronavirus, but because of gun violence.
Eighteen-year old Mauricia Strother was found shot in her car near East 80th and Michigan Avenue at 5 a.m. May 3.
Her mother said she was preparing to graduate high school. Now, the family is preparing for a funeral.
“You know, not only was it senseless, but what point were you trying to make when you riddled her car with bullets?” Strother’s grandmother, Amy Acklin, said. “There is no understanding because we just can’t understand.”
Acklin said the family is trying to cope, but it’s hard.
Strother was her mother’s only child. Her family described her as a bight soul with a bright future. She loved to laugh, give and follow the latest fashion trends.
“We called her the little fashionista. It was that way since she was born. She would be like, ‘Mommy, what’s your next hairstyle?'” Strother’s mother, Marielle Strother, said.
Classmates, both past and present at Paseo High School, and even in schools in Florida are making sure she is not forgotten.
“We appreciate that the school she went to for a long time, they are going to wear orange for gun violence for their graduation in memory of her,” Strother said.
Her mother said she will continue to give to the world as an organ donor.
The family will work to fulfill her dream of having a purse line. But most of all, they want answers and justice.
“It kind of just leaves you speechless. The speechless part about it we don’t know what to say, the senseless part of it, is like, come on now, when does it stop? When does it stop?” Acklin said.
A small memorial service will be held for Strother on Friday.
There have been no arrests in the case. If you have any information on her case, you’re asked to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.
