Walter Lee Gregory, 40, was shot and killed Jan. 19, and the only lead that police currently have is a man who was spotted driving away from the scene in a red Camaro, according to KMBC-TV. No arrests have been made yet in the case.
Five hours before Gregory was gunned down, he published a Facebook post calling for an end to the black-on-black violence in Kansas City that had taken so many lives already this year, according to his father, also named Walter Gregory.
Part of Gregory’s message read as follows: “Why do black people hate each other so much? Who taught us that this was OK?,” his father said, according to WDAF-TV.
Gregory’s father shared his son’s concerns as well as his call to stop the senseless violence around them.
“If black life matters, it should start with us first. It should” he said, according to KMBC. “It’s been hard, but my faith, my faith keeps me strong.”
Gregory, who was an organ donor, leaves behind two young daughters. During the last few months, he had also given up his time to help care for his mother, who was bedridden after suffering from a stroke.
“What I can`t understand, he didn’t have a beef with people. It had to be somebody personally jealous of him or something,” Gregory’s father said, adding that he hoped other people would benefit from his son’s organs, reported WDAF.”I know right now that his heart is going to beat in somebody else.”
Gregory’s aunt, Rosilyn Temple, told WDAF that this was the third death that her family has suffered due to local violence.
“This is three times this has happened to our family. It was a cousin before, then my son, now it’s Walter,” Temple said.
Gregory’s funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ in Kansas City.