A verbal argument inside a Kansas City liquor store escalated into fatal gunfire for 30-year-old Cornell A. Reed. The confrontation began on the evening of December 22, 2018, near 55th and Prospect Avenue. Reed was shot in the head, taken to a hospital, and died the next day on December 23, 2018.

Witnesses said two brothers, Steven T. Kelow and Corey Richardson, left the store in a maroon sedan, circled the block, and drove past Reed as he walked. Observers reported muzzle flashes from the rear driver’s-side passenger seat as the car passed; Reed collapsed and investigators recovered thirteen shell casings at the scene. The vehicle’s driver told detectives she saw both Kelow and Richardson firing shots. Richardson told police his brother shot Reed but said the intention was only to frighten him.

In March 2020 Kelow was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 22 years, with a concurrent five-year term for armed criminal action. A co-defendant was still awaiting trial at that time. Did anyone see the maroon sedan or know more about what sparked the dispute inside the store?