KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The residents of Wyandotte Towers held a balloon release Sunday night, coming together in prayer and solitude to remember three neighbors they lost last week.
“Even in these times, God is still good. Amen. He is still merciful,” said one Wyandotte Towers resident.
Holly Duff, president of the Wyandotte Towers Council, said the balloon release was a way of "saying our goodbyes."
“All we can do is gather together and be there for each other,” Duff said.
Rau'Daja Fairrow, 25, was one of the three people found deceased last week inside Wyandotte Towers. Her friend Zina Johnson is having a difficult time coping.
“She loved just hanging out in the building with everybody, she loved to get everybody together," Johnson said. "We used to get together, play cards, play dominoes, eat. One of her favorite foods was Chinese food and crawfish."
However, Sunday's balloon release brings Johnson and others comfort knowing the community came together to not only say goodbye to her friend but others who lost their lives.
“It really made my heart smile because I didn’t expect to see so many people come gathered together for the occasion," Johnson said. “The guy Roy, I knew him on a basis to where we spoke. I seen him, he never gave anyone problems.
"Like I said, he shined his flashlight, he told everybody, 'Hi,' and kept on going on about his time. The young man Damon, I didn’t know too much about him, but I have seen him — didn’t really presume him to be too much of a bad guy.”
As the community works to comfort one another, they hope changes will be made to keep two tragedies and a sudden death from happening again.
“To have safety in order and to make sure those things are up to date and make sure those things are being followed through — those are things that need to be done," Duff said.
Although Wyandotte Towers might be big and tall, inside lives a small community of people who try their best to look out for one another.
“I just want whoever did this to her to think about what y’all did, think about the people that y’all hurt, think about your family, think about if it was y’all in this situation,” Johnson said.
