On the evening of February 18, 2022, 14-year-old Antonio Johnson and a 14-year-old friend, Samuel Guess, were found with gunshot wounds inside an apartment near 22nd Street and Birch Drive in Kansas City, Kansas. Police were dispatched around 10 p.m.; both boys, students in the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools district, were pronounced dead at the scene. The double homicide occurred across the street from Argentine Middle School and was reported as the city’s seventh and eighth homicides that year.

Neighbors described Antonio as a quiet, nice boy. His mother, Veronica Johnson, said the family had moved from Arkansas to Kansas to escape violence; she lost her eldest child in this shooting. The school district arranged a crisis incident team for students returning to class. The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department Major Case Unit opened an investigation, and on May 3, 2022 the U.S. Marshals Kansas Fugitive Apprehension Task Force arrested 24-year-old Patrick Howard of Kansas City, Missouri, who was later charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

If anyone knew Antonio, Samuel, or saw activity near 22nd Street and Birch Drive that night, please share what was seen or any information that could help the families.