KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Days after a gunman shot and killed De'Angelo Wallace in front of Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department Headquarters, his mother and sister want answers.
"He didn't deserve that. He was not a violent person," Karen Wallace, his mother, said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon. "If he could do anything for anybody he would. He didn't judge you for whatever. You know, he just he just loved people. He was a people person."
His sister, Shauntice Wallace, shared an audio recording of De'Angelo Wallace singing "Happy Birthday" to her, remembering the joyful moments, because there were times when the 28-year-old experienced homelessness.
"He was a very happy person," Shauntice Wallace said. "He always had a smile on his face, regardless of anything that he ever went through."
Police said the shooting stemmed from an argument. A suspect was identified and has been taken into custody.
But De'Angelo's family said during the press conference that they are worried he was targeted because he was a gay man. They said he had been threatened in the past.
"The homeless people were throwing rocks at my son," Karen Wallace said. "He did not deserve that. He got – he got a couple of threats. Oh, if we keep seeing you come down here, then we're going to kill you."
A KCPD spokesperson told 41 Action News there is no indication the shooting was a hate crime.
A spokesperson for the Jackson County prosecutor's office saidthey are aware of the police investigation, but the department has yet to submit the case to them formally.
"I'm going to miss him," Shauntice Wallace said. "I just want his killer to be charged, and I want justice for my brother."
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