Yancy Ja’Quan Tremel Whitehead, 22, was shot and killed just after 3 a.m. on Saturday, March 8, 2025, in the 2900 block of SE Freemont Road in Topeka. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene. Two other people from the same incident were treated at a local hospital for gunshot wounds; one had life-threatening injuries, the other did not. The shooting was the city’s third homicide investigation of 2025.

Yancy was born in Topeka on January 21, 2003, and was a graduate of Topeka Public Schools. He worked at Mars Chocolate and had been baptized at True Light Ministries in 2019. He was active in neighborhood cleanups, community gardens, programs for senior citizens, and had played on local football and basketball teams as a youth. Family and friends remembered his love of music, the gym, and time spent with them.

Police identified 45-year-old Robert Reyes of Topeka as a person of interest and asked the public for help locating him. Officers arrested Reyes just before midnight on Sunday, March 9; he was booked into the Shawnee County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder with bond set at one million dollars. Does anyone who knew Yancy or was in the area that night have information that could help?