Friends and family members of Brannae' Browne gathered on Wednesday night for a vigil to honor the 15-year-old who was shot and killed during a gang-related drive-by shooting last week.
Police responded to a home near 5th & Freeman last Friday evening after multiple shots were fired.
Browne, a sophomore at Harmon High School, died from injuries sustained in the shooting.
On Wednesday, dozens gathered near the home for a vigil honoring Browne.
Dozens continue to gather for vigil for 15-year-old Brannae Browne pic.twitter.com/RT18FSZ8FO
— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) September 8, 2016
"I would not wish this feeling on my worst enemy," said Browne's mother, Shanta Barnett, through tears at the ceremony.
Many people carried heart-shaped balloons at the event, while some wore T-shirts with pictures of Browne.
"I don't want anybody to have to go through what I'm going through," Barnett said during a speech at the vigil. "If anybody knew my daughter personally, if this can happen to my daughter, it can happen to anybody's."
KC Mothers In Charge helped organize the vigil.
Members of the "Gateway Highsteppers" dance and band team came as a group to the ceremony.
Afterwards, they performed a dance routine in honor of Browne.
Brannae' Browne was a member of the "Gateway Highsteppers". Tonight at her vigil, her team honored her pic.twitter.com/1sU8gnXxlM
— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) September 8, 2016
"To know her was to love her," explained Barnett, while speaking to reporters after the vigil. "If you were around her, I don't care if you were down or not, she was going to make sure you were smiling and happy."
The vigil was held on the same day investigators announced a 15-year-old was charged in Browne's murder.
The 15-year-old charged is the son of Natasha Hays, who was shot and killed during a drive-by shooting in KCK just days before the shooting that killed Browne.
The two deaths from last week shed light on the tragic reality in KCK.
"You're talking about people who have nothing to lose," explained former gang leader Ossco Bolton, who now works to mentor troubled youth in the community. "Once you take my daughter or my mom from me, or if you kill my brother, in my world, you took everything that belongs to me. So I don't care who I take."
Bolton said the death of Browne, and other gang-related violence, showed that more men need to get involved to help get young teens on the right track.
"Whether it be in KCK or KCMO, the men have to get together now, come up with a plan, get our priorities, and execute that plan," he said, after speaking of the impact of groups like KC Mothers In Charge."Otherwise, we're going to lose more children."
The 15-year-old suspect now faces multiple charges, including one for first-degree felony murder.
Two others were injured in last Friday's shooting.
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Tom Dempsey can be reached at Tom.Dempsey@KSHB.com.
