NEED TO KNOW
- Traelynn Sibley was shot in the throat while at her friend’s home on Aug. 9
- Bailey Lewis has been charged with murder in connection with the shooting
- Several others, including a toddler, were present in the home and witnessed the hail of bullets coming into the residence
A Missouri woman has been arrested weeks after a teenager was fatally shot while doing her friend’s hair during a sleepover.
Authorities responded to a shooting at the Kansas City, Mo., home on Aug. 9, where they found 16-year-old Traelynn Sibley suffering from a gunshot wound to her throat, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
Traelynn was not named in the statement, but has since been identified by the Gun Violence Archive and several news outlets including The Kansas City Star, KSHB and FOX 4KC.
Nearly three weeks later, on Friday, Aug. 29, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson announced charges, including murder, against 21-year-old Bailey Lewis in connection with Traelynn’s killing.
In a probable cause statement, authorities claim Traelynn was at a friend’s home on the night of the shooting. She was doing her friend’s hair as the two were stationed by the vanity near the front door of the house.
Three adults and a toddler were also in the residence at the time, and heard the gunshots and watched the bullets entering the home, police said.
An investigation from the scene — including obtained security footage from nearby and Lewis’ phone, which was present at the scene at the time of the shooting — led authorities to the suspect, who was arrested in Independence, Mo., on Thursday, Aug. 28, police said in the complaint.
One female in the residence told police that they had a falling out with Lewis a few months prior, per the complaint.
Traelynn, who was just days away from starting her junior year of high school, is being remembered by her friends and family as a “a beautiful, bright, sunny girl,” per KCTV 5.
“She was a free spirit and almost always smiling and happy. She loved to dance, draw, and do nails, and wanted to be a beautician someday. We are absolutely broken by the loss of our sweet girl,” her mother told the outlet.
“[Traelynn] you were like a little spark of light!! I will never forget your little smile,” read a note on a Gun Violence Archive page about her killing.
The teenager’s mother Cassandra O’Dell started a Change.org petition calling for increased police presence in neighborhoods impacted by gun violence, deployment of stronger measures to keep guns out of children’s hands and strict enforcement of laws against illegal firearms.
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Lewis has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of accessory armed criminal action and two counts of accessory unlawful use of a weapon, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said in their statement.
She is being held on a $400,000 cash bond.
Plea and attorney information for Lewis were not immediately available in online court records.
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