Family pleads for answers 18 years after Kansas City drive-by shooting
By Jackson Kurtz
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMBC) — Almost 20 years and still no answers.
It was the summer of 2007, when 21-year-old Chris Bartholomew died after a drive-by shooting.
The shooting happened at 39th and Broadway in Westport.
Before his death, Bartholomew had dreams to be a police officer in Kansas City.
“Chris believed in good in the world. He believed in the best in people,” said Misty Kirwan, Bartholomew’s mother.
But Bartholomew’s dreams were cut short on May 20, 2007, when he was trying to give his friends a ride home and was shot in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting.
“It’s Sunday morning. I can’t find him. I know he’s hurt, and that’s all I know,” Kirwan said.
He died the next day.
“He’s missed so much. He’s missed out on so much. I watch his friends having kids, knowing he’ll never have that,” Kirwan said.
But as his posthumous 40th birthday approaches next month, his mother is pleading for anyone with information in his son’s death to come forward.
“I know people are scared. It’s been 18 years. Put the fear aside,” Kirwan said.
Reward money with tips in the case is now up to $54,000.
Kirwan hopes someone, somewhere will do the right thing.
“Never be closure. I hate that word. My life’s not going to change. I still live every day without Chris. There’s got to be somebody that knows something. There has to be,” Kirwan said.
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