A Kansas City sleepover ended in tragedy, and now a 21-year-old Lenexa woman is facing charges in the shooting death of a Grandview High School student.
Prosecutors have charged Bailey Lewis with second-degree felony murder, three counts of accessory armed criminal action, and two counts of accessory unlawful use of a weapon. The victim, 16-year-old Traelynn Sibley, was just days away from starting her junior year at Grandview High School when she was fatally shot on August 9.
According to court documents, police were called to a home in the 3600 block of Norton Avenue around 10 p.m. after gunfire was reported. Officers found Traelynn in the bathroom with a gunshot wound to her throat. She was taken to a hospital, where she later died.
That night, inside the home, were several teenagers, two men playing video games, and a toddler. Witnesses told police it had been a normal evening until bullets came through the front door, window, and wall. Traelynn ran to the bathroom before collapsing. None of the witnesses stated that they saw who fired the shots or why, according to KCTV.
Investigators recovered numerous 9mm shell casings in the street. “The general spacing of the casings seemed to indicate the person(s) firing the shots were in motion southbound,” Kansas City police detective David Adair wrote in a probable cause affidavit, as reported by The Independent. A red Mazda in the driveway was struck multiple times, and fragments were found inside and outside the house.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage showing a gray Hyundai Elantra speeding south while shots rang out. The car was later seen at a gas station, where three people got out. The driver removed her mask inside the store, and detectives identified her as Lewis.
Further investigation tied Lewis to someone living at the home, though their friendship had ended months earlier. Detectives also found evidence linking her recently purchased Hyundai Elantra to the shooting.
Reports from that night showed another shooting at an apartment complex about 15 minutes earlier. Surveillance video again captured a gray Hyundai Elantra, and shell casings from both scenes matched the same gun.
Police arrested Lewis in Independence on Thursday. According to court documents, she was driving the same car, with a handgun and her cellphone visible inside. Her phone records allegedly placed her at both shootings. Lewis is being held in Jackson County jail on a $400,000 cash bond.