On the afternoon of May 20, 2023, 23-year-old Donell James was shot and killed in the parking lot of an apartment complex on the 8600 block of Drury Avenue in the Hillcrest neighborhood of southeast Kansas City, Missouri. Officers responding to reports of a disturbance and gunfire found James with gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene and a firearm was recovered nearby.

Witnesses described a fight between two women over an ongoing feud that escalated with butcher knives. Donell James and 22-year-old Mikel R. Grigsby were reportedly observing when both men were seen armed. Bystander video and surveillance accounts indicate James appeared to lower his handgun after a confrontation, and Grigsby is accused of then firing an AR-style weapon that struck James. Crime scene investigators recovered eight spent rifle casings and observed the victim had been shot from behind.

Grigsby surrendered to police and later faced charges of voluntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. Anyone with information about that afternoon or who witnessed the events in the parking lot is asked to come forward.