Loved ones celebrate life of 22-year-old killed on July 4

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Family and friends are honoring the life of a young woman who was taken too soon. Tykeedra Henderson, 22, was shot and killed in her car on July 4.

KCPD said they responded to a shooting around 1 a.m. at the QuikTrip on 31st Street and Bell Avenue.

When officers arrived, they found Henderson in her car with gunshot wounds. Police believe she was inside her car on the north side of the parking lot when the shots were fired, hitting her. Her car then stopped on the south side of the parking lot, where she was found.

On Thursday night, family and friends released balloons at QuikTrip to celebrate his life.

Two of Henderson’s cousins, Stephanie Robinson and Adriana Swift, told KCTV5 that while nothing can bring her back, they want people to know who she was.

“Tykeedra was a free spirit, a very bubbly personality, a carefree person. Someone who had a very bright future. Tykeedra was a fighter all her life. She was a type 1 diabetic and every day was a challenge for her.”

They said Henderson lived life to the fullest.

“Her smile could light up the room; she was kind of the life of the party,” Swift said.

On Thursday night, family and friends released balloons at QuikTrip to celebrate his life.(KCTV)

She had big dreams; she planned to pursue a career in radiology in the fall.

“When you think about her dream of becoming a radio technician, she had other dreams too,” Robinson said. “Those will never come true because of this senseless act.”

No one is in custody. If you have any information, please call the TIPS Hotline at 816.474.TIPS.

“We would like to see whoever did this brought to justice,” Robinson said. “This is something our family will have to deal with for the rest of their lives, and we would just like to see justice served.”