KANSAS CITY, Mo. — LeGend Taliferro’s strength is what is keeping his family going.
“He has a heart of a lion," LeGend's mother, Charron Powell, said Wednesday in an interview with 41 Action News about the death of her only child. "That’s why I’m going to keep pushing, because that’s what he had. He was strong and he loved lions."
LeGend had his first open-heart surgery when he was 4 months old after being diagnosed with a heart defect.
41 Action News spoke with Powell last year ahead of LeGend's favorite event, the annual American Heart Association Heart and Stroke Walk.
“It was really important to him now that he was old enough to understand what we were walking for and everything," Powell said. "He was so excited and couldn’t wait to be a part of the Heart Walk, so we talked about it a lot."
LeGend was shot and killed early Monday morning as he slept when someone opened fire on his family's apartment.
Kansas City, Missouri, police said someone targeted the Citadel Apartments near East 63rd Street and Paseo Boulevard, where LeGend had spent the weekend with his father.
“They said he had made a fort with pillows and his covers and that’s how they said he was," Powell said. "They said he was asleep and he was in his fort."
LeGend was rushed to Research Medical Center, where he died from a gunshot wound.
KCPD has not made any arrests in the case, but the department released surveillance video and a photo of a car possibly connected to the shooting on Tuesday.
Powell hopes people will speak up for her son.
“All I can ask is for if you do know anything, just please say something," Powell said. "I don’t care if you call me, message me or tell me, and I’ll call and say something."
Vigils for LeGend have taken place this week at the apartment complex.
While Powell says she is not ready to attend, she is grateful for the support. She also is asking the community to support her son by joining team, “Walking LeGend,” for this year's virtual Heart Walk on Sept. 13.
“My son really wanted to be part of that heart walk, so if you guys can all come down and walk with us on Sept. 13, that would mean so much to him and also to our family,” Powell said.
KCPD continues to investigate LeGend's homicide and needs more tips from the community.
Anyone with information about the shooting or the suspect vehicle may call the KCPD Homicide Unit at 816-234-5043 or report the information anonymously to the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline online, by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477) or through the P3Tips mobile app.
