Myeisha J Turner

Myeisha J. Turner was a 28-year-old mother from Kansas City, Missouri, who was lovingly remembered by those who knew her as fun, loyal, and strong. Friends called her "Mykei." She was studying to become a registered nurse at National American University while working at Saint Luke's Hospital. Myeisha was a devoted mother to her two children, 3-year-old Damiah L. White and 11-month-old Denim White. Damiah was remembered as a talkative and outgoing child. Myeisha's life, and that of her young daughter, were cut tragically short in August 2013.

On the evening of Friday, August 23, 2013, a relative went to check on Myeisha at her duplex in the 5500 block of Wabash Avenue, concerned after not hearing from her. The family member found the back door open and made a horrifying discovery. Inside the home, Myeisha and her daughter, Damiah, had both been shot and killed in what police described as an execution-style slaying. The tragedy was compounded by the discovery of Myeisha's infant son, Denim, who was found physically unharmed but traumatized, having been left alone inside the home with his deceased mother and sister for an unknown amount of time.

The brutal double homicide sent shockwaves of grief and outrage through the Kansas City community. Family and friends gathered for emotional vigils, pleading for justice and for anyone with information to come forward. "It takes a real coward and a heartless individual to kill a child," one community advocate stated. A month after the killings, a group of motorcyclists canvassed the neighborhood, going door-to-door to pass out flyers and urge witnesses to speak to the police, emphasizing that helping to solve the murder of a 3-year-old was not "snitching." The Ad Hoc Group Against Crime offered a reward for information leading to an arrest.

For more than two years, the case remained unsolved, leaving Myeisha's family in a painful state of uncertainty. The investigation was handled by the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department, who followed every lead, including a tip about a suspicious vehicle seen in the neighborhood around the time of the murders. That single phone call would prove crucial to breaking the case open.

In February 2016, a major development was announced. During a federal sentencing hearing for a man named Rashawn L. Long on unrelated drug and gun charges, prosecutors publicly identified him as the person responsible for the murders of Myeisha and Damiah. Long, then 35, was a known member of the 51st Street Crips street gang with a violent criminal history. He had been released from prison for a 2001 murder conviction earlier in the summer of 2013 and was alleged to have committed at least four more murders in the months following his release, including those of the young mother and her child.

During Long's sentencing, law enforcement testified about his extensive criminal activities and presented evidence linking him to the execution-style killings. Police said that during interviews, Long had admitted to the slayings. Myeisha's mother, Cheryl Turner, expressed her relief that a suspect was finally off the streets. "We want justice for our loved ones," she said. "We miss them. We can’t see them on holidays or just be with them anymore, and he’s got to answer for this."

A federal judge, citing Long's violent history and the need to protect the public, sentenced him to 30 years in federal prison for the drug and firearm convictions, a sentence that was an upward departure from federal guidelines. The judge specifically referenced Long's alleged involvement in at least five murders as a factor in the lengthy sentence.

As of February 2016, while Rashawn Long was publicly named as the killer and was serving a long federal sentence, formal murder charges had not been filed against him in Jackson County for the deaths of Myeisha Turner and Damiah White. The case remains a painful memory for a family and a city horrified by the loss of a mother and her innocent child. Police have asked anyone with information to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.