Kansas City family of slain ‘X-Factor’ contestant thinks fatal shooting was hate crime
Shauntice Wallace waited at her uncle’s house for her brother to call the night of July 4.
They had plans to hang out once De’Angelo Wallace, who had been working overtime to save for a car, got off his 3 to 11 p.m. shift at Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, Kansas.
He never called.
An hour and a half after Wallace got off work, he was killed in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City police responded to the shooting at 12th and Locust streets about 12:30 a.m. Monday, and found 28-year-old Wallace lying in the street.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. A suspect was arrested the same day — and has since been released. Prosecutors have not filed charges in the case.
Wallace was one of 11 people reported shot in separate incidents across Kansas City in just over a three-hour period from late on July 4 to early July 5.
Wallace’s family fears he was killed because he was a gay Black man. They say he had been targeted and threatened in recent weeks because of his sexuality.
Kansas City police say there is no evidence of that, instead suggesting the shooting stemmed from an argument.
“There is absolutely no indication whatsoever this was related to a hate crime,” Sgt. Jake Becchina, a Kansas City Police Department spokesman, wrote in an email in response to questions about the investigation.
Recent threats
Wallace often took the bus to and from downtown for work, his family says. Shauntice Wallace was on the phone one night as a man threw rocks at her brother while he tried to catch a bus to a friend’s house.
On another night, about a month ago, she was on the phone with her brother while he was on the bus. He took a long pause, and it scared her. She knew it meant her brother was scared too.
“He was like, ‘this dude just threatened me. He said that if he sees me around here again, he’s gonna have me killed. He’s gonna kill me,’” Shauntice Wallace recalled her brother saying. “I just couldn’t believe it.”
Justice Horn, vice chair of the LGBTQ Commission, stood with the family in solidarity at a news conference Wednesday.
“I think it’s important to speak out because there is a track record in KC of Black LGBTQ people either being targeted, threatened or slain,” Horn told The Star. “We got a problem in this city.”
“I have no trust for (KCPD) and their expertise to classify this as a hate crime or not,” Horn said. “They do not have a good record when it comes to interacting with like LGBT individuals so I frankly don’t want to hear from them. They are not the prosecutor.”
Two Kansas City police officers, Matthew G. Brummett and Charles Prichard, were charged in May 2020 with misdemeanor third-degree assault charges for allegedly slamming a Black transgender woman’s head into the pavement during an arrest in May 2019. Prosecutors alleged the officers “recklessly” caused pain to Breona, or “Briya,” Hill while they handcuffed her.
In March 2018, 24-year-old Ta’Ron Carson was shot and killed near East 39th and Main streets. Police have said Carson was killed by a “stray bullet,” but friends and those who knew Carson feared he was killed because he was gay.
Now, Shauntice Wallace can’t sleep. And she misses the calls from her older brother. They talked late at night, early in the morning, and often. Sometimes he would call singing Beyoncé.
About 2 a.m. on the night of July 4, when she hadn’t heard from her brother, Shauntice Wallace left her uncle’s house and went home. About eight hours later, her sister called her crying. Their brother had been killed.
“It’s very senseless,” Shauntice Wallace said. “My brother did not deserve to be shot down like a dog in the street.”
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the homicide unit at 816-234-5043 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
A viral performance
De’Angelo Wallace auditioned for X-Factor in 2012. He made it through the first three rounds, his sister said, before standing on a stage in front of judges Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, L.A. Reid and Louis Walsh.
“De’Angelo has the X-Factor,” he said during a pre-audition interview. “There’s no ifs, ands or booties about it.” He felt confident he would impress the judges, saying he could sing Spears’ songs better than her and calling Reid “shiny head.”
“I know I’m better than Justin Bieber,” he told the judges before singing Chris Brown’s “With You.” It wasn’t his choice of song though, his sister said. He had chosen a gospel song to perform, but was forced to pick another one.
The judges walked out on his audition, but De’Angelo Wallace kept singing.
He really had a good voice but he was trying to be funny that day, Shauntice Wallace said as she sat in Savory And Sons Funeral Home just south of Interstate 70 near Blue Ridge Boulevard.
After Wallace’s performance, he walked out of the building with the mic still on and was briefly arrested. He sang as he sat in the front seat of the police car to the tune of Drake’s 2010 “Find Your Love” song: “I’m getting arrested, but I’ll be out in a few hours.”
‘This cannot be true’
Loretta Toombs, 42, laughed and cried when she recently rewatched the video of Wallace’s appearance on X-factor.
She had met Wallace almost 10 years ago, before he went on the show. He reminded her of her own son.
Toombs learned about the shooting while watching the news on television one morning last week as she was getting ready for work.
“I let out this scream that was unimaginable because I just could not believe what I was watching,” Toombs said. “I was bawling because I’m like this cannot be true.”
Toombs connected with Wallace’s sister on Facebook. They’ve talked all week long about the tragedy and the impact Wallace made on her life and many others.
He was always surrounded by friends and people who loved him, they said.
“I just really wish that I just had time with him,” Toombs said. “I just wish I was able to see him. It even got to the point (Thursday) night where I was just wishing that I could have been with him in his final moments. That’s the part that really gets me. He was out there alone all by himself. That’s the most heartbreaking thing for me.”
An infectious smile
Wallace had experienced housing insecurity for several years, Shauntice Wallace said.
After turning 18, he had several apartments but after going to jail for a period, he lost his last one, Shauntice Wallace said. He often stayed with her or in hotels.
She said they experienced some rough moments growing up, but Wallace never let that stop him.
Wallace picked up extra shifts at work and his sister was helping him look for a new place to live. She was also teaching him how to drive. He wanted to buy a car so he could eventually find a better job. He had dreams of traveling.
As Shauntice Wallace looked at a photo of her brother grinning on her phone, she kissed the screen.
“His smile made you smile,” Shauntice Wallace said. “Every time he smiled at me, even if I was mad, I would just smile because his smile was so infectious.”
Shauntice Wallace misses eating seafood with her brother. She misses his huge dimpled smile. She misses his amazing voice.
Wallace was always interested in fashion, Shauntice Wallace said. Growing up, they would pretend to be performers and act like singers. He loved to dance, sing — especially artists such as Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Adele, Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion.
The favorite uncle
Wallace doted on his 6-year-old niece, 6, and 11-year-old nephew, his sister said. He was the favorite uncle.
Last Christmas, Wallace went shopping with Shauntice for gifts for her children. They spent hours at stores picking out presents, with Wallace debating between which doll to buy.
He also bought his niece three toy bears, that now sit on her bed.
Wallace had been talking about auditioning for another show in the future.
Now, as Shauntice Wallace looks back, she wishes she would have done more to help her brother when he was experiencing the hatred. And she wishes the hate would stop.
“If you have a loved one that dies, speak out, reach out, bring awareness to the situation,” Shauntice Wallace said. “I really feel like there’s people out here who really hate people for being gay.
“I’m just gonna be real. I honestly feel like he was a target in the end.”
A celebration of life for Wallace is scheduled for July 15 at 7 p.m. at 12th and Locust streets.
