KANSAS CITY, Mo. — To remember a 15-year-old whose life was ended due to gun violence, more than 100 family and friends gathered Thursday for a balloon release.
Terrell Bell was shot and killed on Tuesday at 109th Street and Sycamore Terrace, near Sycamore Park.
KCPD said Thursday night that they arrested a juvenile in connection with this homicide.
At Sycamore Park near the area where Bell spent his final moments alive, balloons in Bell's favorite colors – black, blue and white – were released.
Balloon release happening soon as more family and friends arrive. @41actionnews pic.twitter.com/4Yu9GA2UCc
— Nick Starling (@NickStarlingTV) June 10, 2021
"It’s just hard right now because we’re going to miss the energy he had in the locker room we’re going to miss all that," Kenderal Webber, a friend and teammate at Ruskin High School, said.
Bristol Smith had similar thoughts.
"He was a good friend to me and he was always there when I needed him," Smith said.
Still mourning the loss of their loved one, Bell's family also attended the release.
"He wasn’t no problem child," Crystal Jackson, Bell's aunt, said. "He got along with everybody, you know, so how this tragedy happened, I can’t believe it."
Family and friends described Bell as a funny teenager who was both religious and and made his mark on the football field with aspirations of playing in the NFL.
"He always talked about, 'I’m going to the NFL, I’m going into the league,'" Webber said.
Bell's aunt doesn't want another family to have to plan for a balloon release because of gun violence.
"Don’t look at this as a tragedy, look at this as a lesson," she said. "Put down the guns stop hating and killing and being jealous of one each other."
Bell was one of four people who died in shootings Tuesday.
Tuesday was the deadliest day so far in 2021 in the Kansas City area, according to the 41 Action News homicide tracker.
