Days after finding his body outside a church, Kansas City police identify teen killed
Police have identified the teenager found dead in a Raytown church parking lot, days after his body was discovered.
A passerby called police around 9:30 a.m. Monday after spotting the body in the Dayspring Pentecostal Church parking lot.
“We don’t have a lot of info,” said Sgt. Philip DiMartino, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department. “No one called in about a shooting. No one called in about a disturbance. Someone this morning just happened to be driving by.”
On Thursday, police said they had identified the victim as 16-year-old Tytus Bridgeford.
Police struggled for days to identify Bridgeford, releasing a description of him Wednesday hoping someone would recognize him. In the description, police said he was wearing bone colored Adidas Yeezy 700 MNVN, had scars above his left eye, left hand and left hip and had braces with black rubber bands.
The killing was the 72nd homicide in Kansas City this year, according to data tracked by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings. There had been 95 homicides at this time last year.
Anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477. A reward of up to $25,000 is available for information provided to TIPS that leads to an arrest.
