On July 4, 2022, 18-year-old Black male Jai’Bryn Johnson was dropped off at the Research Medical Center emergency room in Kansas City, Missouri, around 3:30 a.m., suffering from critical gunshot wounds. Hospital staff attempted to save him but he was pronounced dead. Preliminary information places the shooting near the intersection of Bannister and Raytown roads before he was taken to the hospital.

Three days later the driver who brought Johnson to the hospital, identified as Demarion Benjamin, was found shot to death in grass near East 51st Street and Lawn Avenue on July 7, 2022. Authorities arrested 25-year-old Malijahjuan M. Smith of Independence, Missouri, on charges of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in Benjamin’s killing; court records say Smith at one point admitted involvement in the shooting of Benjamin and detectives traced phone contact between Benjamin and an associate of Smith shortly before that killing.

The investigation into Johnson’s shooting remained active and connected to the subsequent homicide of the driver. Does anyone have information about Johnson’s final hours or the events near Bannister and Raytown roads that morning?