Police say murder victim was a ‘straight arrow’ Victor D. Vickers And Garron T. Briggs

Edward Ewing II, 25,

was generous with his time and friendship.

So much so, he gave it to people who didn’t deserve it, Kansas City police and relatives said.

Today, Jackson County prosecutors accused one of Ewing’s friends and another man of killing Ewing and shooting Ewing’s girlfriend early Tuesday. The girlfriend survived by playing dead, accor

ding to court records.

Garron T. Briggs

Prosecutors charged Garron T. Briggs, 25, and Victor D. Vickers, 26, each with first-degree murder, first-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action in connection with the shootings about 1 a.m. Tuesday in the 7000 block of East 85th Terrace. They were in jail Friday night.

Victor D. Vickers

Police Sgt. Richard Sharp said Ewing and his girlfriend were “straight-arrows who worked, had two kids and took good care of them and weren’t involved in any criminal activity.”

Police believe a misunderstanding was the motive behind the violence. Sharp said Ewing was killed over a dispute that didn’t involve him.

Ewing’s mother, Angela Addison, said she believed her son used his pickup truck recently to help Briggs move. The allegation that one of Ewing’s friends killed him adds an extra layer of heartache and anger to the tragedy, Addison said.

“If you needed help, he would help you,” she said. “He touched a lot of people’s lives.”

Court records released Friday said Briggs and Vickers waited on the couple’s street in a car until the girlfriend came home from work early Tuesday. They confronted her with guns and forced her to let them inside the home, where Ewing was sleeping. He had to be at work at 6 a.m.

The gunmen ransacked the house looking for something they couldn’t find, according to court records.

Briggs then allegedly told another suspect to “do it,” the records said. The man went into a bedroom and repeatedly shot Ewing. Briggs allegedly shot the girlfriend, who saw the muzzle flash and felt pain in her neck. She laid her head on the floor and didn’t move, hoping the gunman wouldn’t shoot her again. The suspects then fled.

The girlfriend called 911 from her cellphone and crawled into her infant daughter’s room, where she found Ewing dead, sitting against a wall. She stayed with him until an ambulance arrived. The children weren’t home at the time.

Addison said Ewing graduated from Hickman Mills High School in 2004, where he played football and basketball, and attended Longview Community College. She said he worked various jobs after school, most recently for a satellite television service.

Ewing wanted to pursue a career in acting, choreography or video arts, Addison said. He was devoted to his family, including his girlfriend’s 8-year-old son, whom Ewing took care of as his own, and a 10-month-old daughter named Hea’vyn.