Raytown mom of 2 fatally shot during argument was a ride-or-die friend, loved ones say

Angry at her hair, Crystal Kent lopped off her own ponytail in a moment of decisiveness. Then came the regret, and the tears flowed. That’s when her best friend Alice Darge, ever ready to help, swooped in to the rescue.

“She comes in, she’s like, ‘We got this, we got this,’” Kent said, reflecting on her best friend’s life, which was cut short last month in a fatal shooting. “She never cut hair a day in her life. She calmly fixed my hair for me and it was good to go.”

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a friend’s love.

Kent is left now with only memories like that one, of how Darge once got a U-Haul stuck on her street in a humorous moment that cost around $700 to remedy, of how she’d drop off gifts, offer up an Egg McMuffin with a single bite missing or a plate of food she’d whipped up herself.

Kent and others close to Darge were sent reeling last month after she was fatally shot during an argument at her home in Raytown . A Kansas City man who Kent said her friend had been seeing was charged with the shooting July 19 and arrested two days later.

In an email to The Star, Raytown police confirmed Darge was the victim in the shooting in the 8400 block of Greenwood Road July 14.

Prosecutors charged 28-year-old Zachary Turley with a count of second-degree murder and a count of armed criminal action in Jackson County Circuit Court for the fatal shooting. Turley’s case was unsealed Aug. 1.

Turley was arrested one week after the shooting after someone recognized him at a gas station and contacted law enforcement, according to police.

“It still feels like it just happened,” Kent said Tuesday, one month after her friend’s death.

“I just don’t understand why he would do something so ruthless,” she said of Turley.

In an email to The Star, Turley’s attorney Willis Toney said Turley will not be making a statement about the shooting, and that he will plead not guilty to the charges.

“Any time someone loses their life it is tragic,” Toney wrote. “Thoughts go out to the family of the deceased and hopefully they have comfort.”

The shooting

According to charging documents, a witness said Darge and Turley had been arguing just before the shooting at Darge’s home on Greenwood Road, and alleged that Turley had tried to set Darge’s car on fire a day or so before.

Raytown police were called shortly before 6:30 p.m. to the home and found Darge with a gunshot wound to her midsection. Before she died at an area hospital, she allegedly identified Turley as the shooter while she was in an ambulance, according to court documents.

The shooting witness reported Darge and Turley had been arguing about “some dumb s---” before Turley exited the garage they were in and closed a door, a Raytown police detective wrote in a report. Darge followed, opened the door and the witness heard the victim say, “Are you f------ serious?” The witness then heard the man reply, “I’m dead f------ serious,” before he allegedly fired a single shot that struck Darge in the stomach.

Investigators found a projectile on the ground at the shooting scene and a shell casing nearby.

Another witness heard the gunshot and watched as a blue Ford Explorer Sport Trac left the area. Law enforcement searched a state database and found a 2003 Sport Trac registered to Turley, as well as his address with his parents in Kansas City.

Police found the vehicle at the home and searched the residence, where they found ammunition that matched what was recovered at the Raytown scene but no gun. Turley’s parents were interviewed, and one of them said he had arrived home, looked pale and said he needed to get out of town for a while before he left, according to court documents.

Turley was later arrested July 21 and was cooperative, police said. During a hearing Monday, his bond was changed from a $150,000 cash-only bond to one that allows him to post 10%, or $15,000, according to court records. If released, he would be required to be on house arrest with GPS monitoring.

Turley remained in custody as of Wednesday, according to Jackson County jail records. His next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 9.

‘Alice in Wonderland’

An obituary for Darge described the 34-year-old woman as a mother of two children who was strong and self-sufficient, who loved her family, who was a ride-or-die friend.

“Alice had a creative mind, seeing beauty in things others saw to be junk,” the obituary said. “She had a (flair) for abstract art and loved painting anything to restore the beauty she saw within it. Let’s not forget her love for Star Wars and Alice in Wonderland. She was Alice, interacting with the madness of this crazy world.”

Kent said Darge had dealt with addiction and was making her way through drug court. She’d found a job and received a promotion, Kent said.

“She was turning things around for herself, and she was so excited to be able to say that and have proof of it,” she said.

At times, Kent would find diapers, baby clothes and other items outside her front door, gifts from her friend. She now remembers Darge through little things and moments, like her dimples, the set of spatulas she picked up or the vehicle she helped Kent to find, how she helped to remodel her basement.

Darge’s death has left a large void in her life, Kent said.

“She uplifted me, she uplifted my soul,” she said, “and she was my best friend.”