On the evening of December 14, 2019, 19-year-old Kimberly Dawn Meeks of Coffeyville, Kansas, was shot while walking with a male companion near Laurel and Main streets in Independence, Kansas. A car approached, an occupant opened fire, and the vehicle fled. The man with Meeks also left the area. A nearby resident who heard the shots called 911; Meeks was pronounced dead at the scene from gunshot wounds.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation assisted the Independence Police Department and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in the homicide probe. Authorities arrested 18-year-old Benjamin J. Mason at his Coffeyville home on December 15 and booked him into the Montgomery County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder.

Kimberly was a recent graduate of Field Kindley High School and had planned to attend Coffeyville Community College. She was remembered for cheerleading, softball and volleyball, and for being outgoing and smiling. If anyone has information about Kimberly or that December evening, please come forward.