Posted on Wed, Nov. 03, 2004
Police seek motive in California rapper's murder
By CHRISTINE VENDEL The Kansas City Star
Maybe someone was angry that California rapper Andre Hicks would not perform at a party Sunday night in Kansas City.
Maybe someone was jealous of his success as an underground rap artist.
Kansas City police don't know. But they think someone was aiming for Hicks early Monday when he was fatally shot as he rode in the back of a van on northbound U.S. 71.
Gunshots pierced the back of the van where Hicks, 34, was sitting.
“We don't know how the shooter knew he was in the back,” said Homicide Sgt. Barb Eckert. “The van had tinted windows.”
Eckert said Hicks was in town from Sacramento for a series of weekend concerts and appearances. She said he was riding around town Sunday night and early Monday with a friend from Kansas City.
The two had attended a party at the Atlantic Star earlier that night. The private club at 93rd Street and Hillcrest Road was rented out to a local promoter who staged a party featuring Hicks, also known as Mac Dre.
The promoter distributed fliers saying Hicks was going to perform at the party. But Hicks was not paid to perform and he only stayed at the party for 30 minutes, Eckert said.
Tickets to the party Sunday cost between $15 and $20, police said.
“Several people wanted their money back,” Eckert said. “We heard there may have been a confrontation there.”
Hicks left the party about 10:30 p.m., even though the party lasted until 1:30 a.m. Hicks then went to find something to eat. Eckert wasn't sure where Hicks had his last meal.
Several hours later, Hicks was riding on U.S. 71 near 85th Street when a black car pulled up and an occupant opened fire. The car then bumped into the van.
The van's driver ducked and lost control on the wet highway. The van swerved across the highway median, across four lanes of southbound traffic and down a steep embankment.
Hicks was thrown from the van. The driver crawled out of the wreckage and looked for Hicks but could not find him in the darkness, so he walked to a hotel at 87th Street and Hillcrest, where Hicks' entourage was staying.
Some members of Hicks' entourage then drove to the crash scene and found him. He had a gunshot wound to the neck. Some of the friends then went to a nearby gas station to call 911.
Eckert said they were looking for people who were with Hicks from his performance Friday night in Kansas City, Kan., to the VIP party and afterward.
Eckert said someone angry about the Sunday night party was one possible theory for the shooting, but she did not know for certain what prompted the highway ambush.
“We know something happened that made someone mad,” she said.
Eckert said the investigation was complicated by members of Hicks' entourage who did not cooperate.
“They hid in their hotel rooms and would not answer the door,” she said. “Then they flew back to California.
“There were 12 to 15 people in his entourage. We talked to two.”
Eckert said she had received some helpful tips from the TIPS Hotline, but hoped to receive more after the distribution of a photo of the suspect's car on Tuesday. The car was recovered Monday night after a neighbor called to report a suspicious vehicle abandoned at 5620 E. 29th Terrace.
The black 2003 Infiniti, which was reported stolen in July, bore scuff marks from its contact with Hicks' van on the highway, police said. Eckert asked anyone who has information about the car to call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (474-8477). A reward for useful information is available.
“Somebody has to know who was driving this car two days ago and now they are not,” she said. “It's a very sharp car, so people would have noticed it.”
Also on Tuesday, police closed down a section of northbound U.S. 71 for nearly 90 minutes to search for evidence related to the shooting. Eckert said they recovered evidence, but she would not say what.
Eckert said her detectives were flooded with dozens of phone calls Tuesday from local fans and those from California inquiring about the investigation. She asked that people not call her unit because the calls were distracting her detectives from their work.
To reach Christine Vendel,
police reporter, call (816) 234-4438 or send e-mail to
[email protected].
