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From her house, Carmen Garcia can see the church parking lot. If Garcia steps out of the house and glances to her right, she can see it from there.
But she avoids that glance and tries “not to look over there,” Garcia said.
On that asphalt parking lot, a group of men brutally attacked her fiancé, Steven A. Bertling. The beating was so violent, Bertling did not survive. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital. He was 26 years old.
Independence police say Bertling and a second victim were playing basketball in the lot of the Church of Jesus Christ, 11400 E. 24th St. in western Independence, south of 23rd Street. Five or six white males, 18 to 22 years old, “confronted and assaulted” them, according to police.
The suspects fled in a dark-colored four-door vehicle.
A reward fund has been set up to generate tips. The reward stands at $11,000 for anyone who supplies a tip that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects.
The numbers are 816-325-7330 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
“I’m hoping someone will say something,” said Garcia.
An anonynmous person donated $10,000. Police had $1,000 in the account.
Garcia saw Bertling for the last time at 11:30 p.m. Friday. They were on the porch talking. She told him she was going to bed. He told her that he was going to hang out with friends. “He was having a guy’s night,” Garcia said.
She didn’t want to talk a lot about what happened to him.
Was Steven at the wrong place, the church parking lot, at the wrong time, around 1 a.m. Saturday?
“That’s what it was,” Garcia said.
Bertling did not have any enemies that Garcia knew of.
“Steven was a very loved person,” she said. “He had a lot of friends. He helped everyone in need.”
Police are not saying if a weapon or weapons were used in the attack or if the men pummeled the victims with hands and feet. Police say they think they have an idea but that has to be confirmed by the coroner’s report that hasn’t came back yet.
“We’re following up on several leads,” said Capt. Ken Bergman. “There’s certain statements that were made that we want to keep to ourselves until we know what we’re doing.”
Bertling, a union plumber, left behind an 8-month-old daughter, Anita. “He didn’t deserve what happened to him,” Garcia said, who has been with him for 6 1/2 years.
From her house, Carmen Garcia can see the church parking lot. If Garcia steps out of the house and glances to her right, she can see it from there.
But she avoids that glance and tries “not to look over there,” Garcia said.
On that asphalt parking lot, a group of men brutally attacked her fiancé, Steven A. Bertling. The beating was so violent, Bertling did not survive. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital. He was 26 years old.
Independence police say Bertling and a second victim were playing basketball in the lot of the Church of Jesus Christ, 11400 E. 24th St. in western Independence, south of 23rd Street. Five or six white males, 18 to 22 years old, “confronted and assaulted” them, according to police.
The suspects fled in a dark-colored four-door vehicle.
A reward fund has been set up to generate tips. The reward stands at $11,000 for anyone who supplies a tip that leads to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects.
The numbers are 816-325-7330 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
“I’m hoping someone will say something,” said Garcia.
An anonynmous person donated $10,000. Police had $1,000 in the account.
Garcia saw Bertling for the last time at 11:30 p.m. Friday. They were on the porch talking. She told him she was going to bed. He told her that he was going to hang out with friends. “He was having a guy’s night,” Garcia said.
She didn’t want to talk a lot about what happened to him.
Was Steven at the wrong place, the church parking lot, at the wrong time, around 1 a.m. Saturday?
“That’s what it was,” Garcia said.
Bertling did not have any enemies that Garcia knew of.
“Steven was a very loved person,” she said. “He had a lot of friends. He helped everyone in need.”
Police are not saying if a weapon or weapons were used in the attack or if the men pummeled the victims with hands and feet. Police say they think they have an idea but that has to be confirmed by the coroner’s report that hasn’t came back yet.
“We’re following up on several leads,” said Capt. Ken Bergman. “There’s certain statements that were made that we want to keep to ourselves until we know what we’re doing.”
Bertling, a union plumber, left behind an 8-month-old daughter, Anita. “He didn’t deserve what happened to him,” Garcia said, who has been with him for 6 1/2 years.
