According to multiple press releases from the Kansas City Police Department, Kristy C. Thow, 29, from Shawnee, and her mother, Penny Smith, 50, sadly passed away from a domestic shooting incident at Penny’s home in Kansas City on May 18, just before 11pm.
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Incident Details
An unidentified third victim was taken to a local hospital where they’re being treated for their injuries. According to family members, eight children witnessed the tragic shooting from inside a van.
Penny’s husband, Christopher Smith, 51, was found dead from a gunshot wound that appears to have been self-inflicted, according to police.
“Kristy reached over and shielded her sister from the bullets and took many herself,” said her uncle, Steven Dennis. “She ultimately died at the scene.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help raise money for the college fund of Thow’s surviving daughter and to support the rest of the family.
“Kristy was a single mom, raising Camilla and helping raise her sisters children,” the fundraiser read, “She had a heart of gold and lived life to the fullest! She will be missed.”
The post continues: “Shot multiple times protecting the life of her sister and her mom, my sister, from a crazed domestic abuser.”
Family Statements
A confidant close to the situation, Melissa Dennis, posted to the fundraiser page. “Kristy was shot multiple times protecting the life of her sister and her mom, my sister, from a crazed domestic abuser.”
Thow was a single mother raising her own daughter, as well as her sister’s children, according to Dennis’s post on the fundraising page.
“She had a heart of gold and lived life to the fullest!” she added to the page. “She will be missed.”
On Sunday, Dennis shared news that her sister had passed away that afternoon. She leaves behind three daughters and three grandchildren, as Dennis mentioned in her update.