Jason T. Smith was 19 when he was fatally shot in the parking lot of the Kansas City Zoo on August 9, 2020. He was in the driver’s seat when a firearm handled by a passenger discharged; Smith was taken to a nearby hospital but died of his wounds. Friends and family remembered him as a vibrant young man who loved race cars and soccer.

The shooter was identified as 29-year-old Anthony Meneses. Investigators determined the shooting was unintentional; Meneses, who had a prior felony conviction, was charged in connection with the incident and later pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. In March 2022 he received a four-year federal prison sentence with no possibility of parole.

Are there details about that night at the zoo parking lot, or about Jason’s life, that could help reconstruct what happened?