KANSAS CITY, Mo — Captain Vonzell Bryant has a voice many people heard for years in Kansas City, Missouri.
He was a retired DJ and party promoter known as "Captain" and "Mr. KPRS."
Bryant would come on the radio, and listeners would hear "It's Vonzell Bryant."
"You might hear that commercial three times in an hour tonight, tonight, tonight," said Dimitri Milligan, known as DJ Meech.
He was an inspiration, Milligan said, to anyone he met.
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"You know how a child looks at an adult that's great? That's how we looked at Captain Vonzell," Milligan said.
People are still processing having to speak about Bryant in the past tense.
"We know nothing happens by accident, and it was such a time as this for him to be the first in 2024," said Venetta Bryant, Bryant's older sister. "For a person that’s around the house, stays at home, and is mild-mannered, you wouldn’t have thought."
Bryant was 70 years old and KCMO's first homicide of the year. He was killed near Agnes Avenue and east 26th Street.
It's the same corner friends, family and neighbors gathered on Thursday night for a balloon release.
"He would be out there talking to the young teenagers," Venetta Bryant said. "He called them whipper snappers. He would talk to them about the killing and arguing."
Aaron Frazier said Vonzell Bryant mentored him since he was in the 7th or 8th grade.
"Cap was like a father to a lot of people. A lot of people didn't have fathers; he was there for them. He inspired me to do comedy," Frazier said.
When the captain of their ship is no longer steering, someone has to grab the wheel.
Milligan knows there are generations who've had that "talk" before it was even time.
"Be the best person you can be to all the brothers and sisters you come in contact with," Milligan recalled.
Bryant will always be their captain, but he already helped many of them figure out how to steer their own ship.
"I just want you to know — Cap, I love you," Frazier said.
KCPD said there are no updates yet in the investigation.
Crime Stoppers confirmed they've only received two tips in this case so far.
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