KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County prosecutors filed charges Friday against a 20-year-old South Kansas City, Missouri, man in connection with a road rage shooting earlier this month that left a 19-year-old woman in critical condition.
Around 12:30 a.m. on May 4, Kansas City police officers were dispatched to the area of U.S. 71 Highway and E. 31st Street after the department’s ShotSpotter system recorded the sound of gunfire in the area.
As they responded, a separate call came into 911 dispatchers reporting a shooting. Police eventually located a shooting victim, later identified by family as 19-year-old JayLee Gross, in the passenger seat of a 2021 Kia K5, suffering from a gunshot wound to her head.
According to court documents, the driver of the Kia told police that he and Gross had just helped a friend fix a flat tire on the highway and were attempting to get back on to northbound 71 to go home. The driver told police that as he attempted to merge, he could not get on the highway without pulling out in front of a dark-colored Ford Fusion.
The driver told police the Ford started to drive aggressively, getting back in front of the Kia and brake-checking it. After exchanging words, the driver of the Ford took an exit ramp from the highway. As the car was exiting, the driver of the Kia told police he heard the sound of several gunshots and glass shattering.
Court documents reveal that the driver of the Kia turned to ask Gross if she was OK, and that’s when he noticed she was unresponsive and suffering from a gunshot wound to her head.
Using city traffic cameras and vehicle VIN databases, detectives eventually identified the driver of the Ford Fusion as Jamahn Tatum.
After gathering evidence and conducting surveillance, KCPD gang squad detectives arrested Tatum on Thursday, May 14, and brought him in for questioning.
During the interview, Tatum admitted to owning a Ford Fusion but initially denied involvement in the shooting. As police revealed they had tracked his car at the scene, court documents state, “Tatum stared off for a moment before taking a deep breath and sitting back in his chair. After a brief moment, Tatum then asked, ‘What are we looking at right here? Deadass bro, this s*** for real, for real is self-defense.”
Tatum eventually admitted to firing the shots toward the other vehicle, repeating his claim of self-defense, saying that if the driver of the victim’s vehicle knew how to drive, “none of this s*** would have happened, I promise you.”
When police asked Tatum why he didn’t contact police, he told them he didn’t think it was serious until he read about the incident the next day and saw that Gross was in critical condition. Police then asked Tatum why he didn’t contact police once he found out how serious it was, to which Tatum said he was scared. Tatum told detectives that he felt bad for the victim, but reiterated he felt he was antagonized by the victim’s driving.
On Friday, prosecutors charged Tatum with first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon by shooting at a vehicle resulting in injury.
Tatum remains in custody at the Jackson County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Highway Patrol issued a Silver Alert on Saturday for 78-year-old John Michael Culbertson, who was last seen in Raytown at about 11:30 a.m.
The highway patrol says Culbertson has dementia and wandered away from his home. They add that he has a history of eloping and has entered strangers’ homes in the past.
He’s a white man who is 5’10” and weighs 160 pounds. He has white hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a navy blue sun hat, dark blue shirt, and cut-off jeans. His home is on Northern Avenue near 53rd and Sterling.
If you’ve seen him or know where he is, call 911 or Raytown police at (816) 737-6020.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has announced a partnership she hopes will lessen human trafficking during the FIFA World Cup in Kansas City. Large events such as the World Cup are known to have an increased rate of human trafficking, and Missouri is working to get ahead of this trend.
Safe House Project is a nonprofit organization that aims to end human trafficking. The group has developed an app called Simply Report that gives people the ability to report to law enforcement any activity they feel is concerning.
Safe House Project CEO Kristi Wells said the Simply Report app uses artificial intelligence to parse the information people report.
“Everybody has a gut instinct, and there are times where we see something where we just aren’t confident, but we are concerned. And so the beautiful thing about using Simply Report is that they can share the suspicions and the things they’re seeing and they don’t have to know everything to report,” Wells said.
The app has been available for a year and there has already been considerable success in supporting victims of human trafficking.
“Within three months we saw a 371% increase in the number of victims identified and served by our organization and after 10 months we had a 1,200%,” Wells said.
A 2023 report from the Missouri Statewide Council on Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children, citing an analysis of 2021 data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, said “As recent as 2020, Missouri had the fourth highest incidence rate of human trafficking at 4.32 per 100,000 people.”
Missouri was the fifth state to partner with Safe House Project. The state’s Director of Anti-Trafficking Operations, Diana Haines, said this issue is important to the Attorney General.
“Catherine Hanaway is committed to protecting victims and preventing exploitation,” Haines said. “The attorney general will always work to get every tool available into the hands of law enforcement to catch traffickers and hold them accountable.”
There is no intention to get rid of Simply Safe after the World Cup.
“We will continue to use and promote Simply Report following the games,” Haines said, “continuing to put the victims first.”
This story was produced by KBIA and shared through the Missouri News Network.
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