Slain Kansas City woman is remembered as a loving mother

A 23-year-old woman shot in the head in Kansas City has died, police said Wednesday.

Tashari Nelson was one of two women injured in a shooting about 2 a.m. Sunday in the 3700 block of Jackson Avenue. Nelson had been declared brain dead and was on life support while relatives made funeral arrangements.

Nelson’s heart, lungs, kidney, liver and pancreas were among the organs that relatives donated.

Police responding to a shooting call found Nelson lying on the pavement on the driver’s side of a parked vehicle. Several people tried to revive her. One of the responding officers also rendered first aid.

A man told police he received a phone call from Nelson, who said she had been attacked. Nelson asked him to pick her up.

As the man arrived, someone fired several shots toward him as he exited his vehicle. He dived for cover. After the shooting ended, he saw Nelson lying in the street covered with blood. He tried to put her in his vehicle but was persuaded by others to wait for paramedics.

Another woman who suffered a gunshot wound to the head was taken to a hospital in a private vehicle. She is expected to recover, police said.

Nelson had three daughters, ages 6, 4 and 2. She had worked as a certified nurse assistant since graduating from a Job Corps program as a teenager. Nelson worked at several elderly and assisted living facilities, said her mother, Triniki Nelson.

Nelson was a role model for her three younger siblings, whom she had watched when her mother went to work.

Her career choice was spurred by her grandmother, who died of lung cancer. Nelson had planned to continue her nursing studies so she could care for people in hospice situations.

Nelson was part of a large extended family and was often the life of any party or gathering, said Cierra Nelson, an older sister.

She was very loving and had an outgoing personality.

“She was about to get into life and really hit all of the goals and success that she had planned on getting,” Nelson said. “She was at that point and they took it away from her.”

Nelson made sure her daughters were well dressed. Relatives said the children recently began asking questions about their mother.

“They really don’t know the full story. The only thing that you can tell them is that Mommy is not here right now,” Nelson said.

Relatives plan to hold an anti-violence barbecue and fundraiser from 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Dunbar Park, in the 3600 block of Oakley Avenue.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. May 7 at Morning Star Baptist Church.

Her death is the city’s 29th homicide of the year.

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Slain Kansas City woman is remembered as a loving mother."