Leonard Joyner III, known as Junior or Lenny, was fatally shot in the late afternoon of July 29, 2018, following a minor traffic collision at 51st Street and Swope Parkway in Kansas City, Missouri. Joyner, 57, was driving a cream-colored Lincoln Town Car and reportedly tried to settle the negligible damage by offering cash. Witnesses described him as a peacemaker who was attempting to defuse the situation.

According to charging documents, the occupants of the white Chevrolet Trailblazer — an 18-year-old woman named Rafeasia Kirkland and her 19-year-old boyfriend Trevyon D. Shepheard — left the scene and then, prosecutors say, Shepheard produced a handgun and fired multiple shots, striking Joyner. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Surveillance footage and community tips led police to an east Kansas City apartment complex where the two were taken into custody. Shepheard told investigators he fired after Joyner reached for a weapon and said he discarded what he believed was a fake or BB gun; witnesses say Joyner was trying to resolve the fender bender peacefully. Prosecutors charged Shepheard with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and tampering with physical evidence, and charged Kirkland with felony tampering with physical evidence.