Rayford Eugene Reed Jr., 37, was fatally shot on October 6, 2019, at a rental property he owned and managed near 29th Street and Askew Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. Reed had gone to the house that Sunday evening to speak with the occupants, including a man identified as Eric Conaway, known as Sleeze, who was staying there with a woman and a child. Witnesses say the situation escalated quickly; Conaway reportedly emerged distraught over the recent death of his child and a heated verbal altercation inside the home was followed by gunfire.

Reed stumbled out of the house with gunshot wounds and tried to drive himself to the hospital but could not operate the truck. A witness transported him to Truman Medical Center, where he later died. Investigators recovered a voicemail left to Reed’s mother from a number associated with Conaway that captured sounds of the confrontation, Reed begging and the sounds of gunfire. Conaway denied speaking to Reed that day, but phone records and witnesses placed him at the scene. In late February 2020 prosecutors charged Conaway with second-degree murder and armed criminal action and requested a $200,000 bond.

If anyone knew Rayford Reed, the occupants of that rental property, or has information about the events of October 6, 2019, please come forward.