In the early morning hours of October 9, 2024, Wichita police responded to a 911 call from 46-year-old Tesha La Sha Florence at the Claremont Apartment Homes on East Harry. Officers found 16-year-old Robert Florence with a single gunshot wound; he was transported to a local hospital in extremely critical condition and died on the morning of October 11, 2024.

Robert was a junior at Wichita Northwest High School, remembered by teachers and coaches as a gifted artist and a jokester with a playful spirit. Family described him as kind, generous and genuine. Court documents say the morning of the shooting Robert pulled down curtains, tore up paper and reached for his mother’s purse, which contained a handgun; prosecutors allege she took the gun and asked Do you just want to die? before it discharged and struck him in the head. Charges against Tesha Florence were amended to second-degree murder after Robert’s death.

If anyone knew Robert, his routines, or was in the Claremont Apartments area that morning, please share what you know.