Shauntay Speaks

Jones says he still doesn't know what caused the violence to erupt last March, except that it was a gang feud and Henderson was involved. He describes Henderson's enemies by numbered streets in Kansas City: "They were 33rd [Street]. A lot of them were 31st. A lot of them were 24th. A lot were 12th. For some reason, they were forming bonds between different sets and picking on others. I assume [it was] just allegiance to whatever gang she was in."

At the end of that week, Corwin used the term "gang war" during his press conference at Linwood and Prospect. The police chief stood in front of a poster plastered with mug shots of fugitives, Henderson included.

"Anonymity will not be their friend anymore," Corwin said. Pointing out Henderson's photo, he said, "I believe she's right in the middle of all of this."

Henderson was the only suspect Corwin named that day. The faces on the poster left the impression that she was being pictured with other members of her gang. But according to Detective Joseph Marinella of the KCPD homicide squad, that wasn't the intention.

"I think those were people that other units had identified as people we wanted the public's help in locating," Marinella explains. "In fact, we got several calls like, 'Hey, my son's face was up there next to Shauntay, and he didn't even know her.' I was like, 'Hey, that's not what it meant.' I know that's what it sort of looked like."

Nonetheless, Corwin's press conference triggered an avalanche of tips to the police. The Kansas City Star reported that some officers were working 18-hour days tracking down Henderson. Officers held one stakeout at Bannister Mall and another at an inner-city gas station, responding to sightings of Henderson that turned out to be false. Community activist Alonzo Washington recorded YouTube videos of himself begging Henderson to call him so he could help her go to the police. Former Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Brooks used several of his regular one-minute radio spots on KPRS 103.3 to urge Parker's alleged shooter to turn herself in.

Two MySpace pages attributed to Henderson appeared on the Web: "Who Dat Girl" and "Girl on the News" were decorated with wintry photos of Henderson's neighborhood, around 12th Street and the Paseo, and snapshots of a woman resembling Henderson clowning around in a dingy-looking kitchen, exhaling greenish clouds of smoke. People commented on the page with messages such as "Free 'Tay!"

People from all over the metro claimed to know her. Some said she wished she were a man. Some said she was a rapper. People came up with a motive for Henderson's alleged crime: They said she'd been the victim of a gang rape and now was armed with a list of the names of the men who had assaulted her; she'd turn herself in once they were all dead.

A tipster told the KCPD that Henderson had shaved her head and was dressing as a man; the police released an awkwardly doctored photo of what Henderson would look like bald.

Police also took seriously a tip that Henderson had fled to Iowa. Allegedly crossing state lines while a fugitive earned her a federal warrant.

On March 19, police received an anonymous tip that Henderson was hiding out at an apartment complex at 2800 Park Avenue. Police and tactical units, along with FBI agents, surrounded the building. More than 50 law-enforcement officers spent six hours before giving up because Henderson wasn't there.

FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza says a local FBI agent assigned to Henderson's case made the argument for putting her on the Most Wanted list. "It's somewhat of a sales job because there are other agents around the country trying to get people on the list as well," Lanza explains.

On March 31, the same day that agents secured Henderson's Most Wanted status, a tip led police to the Sycamore Hills apartment complex in the Northland. When police knocked on the door, a husky voice said, "I'll be right there."

Henderson kept the officers waiting while she put on her shoes. She called out that she didn't want to be shot. When she emerged, the 5-foot-5-inch, 130-pound fugitive wore a black T-shirt and had a full head of hair. She went quietly into custody.

Was Henderson really as dangerous as the police and the media had made her seem?

Though police have presented prosecutors with other cases allegedly involving Henderson, she has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Parker, not with masterminding a crime spree. Marinella, of the homicide squad, says Henderson was the target of investigations in other squads. "But nothing ever stuck," he says.

"How long has she been in custody and she still hasn't been charged with anything new? That right there ... " Marinella trails off, then adds, "Sometimes knowing somebody's involved and proving somebody's involved are two entirely different things."