‘It’s just unreal.’ Kansas Citians gather to honor victim of nightclub shooting
Eboni Silas’ family, friends and former classmates on Monday gathered outside the Kansas City nightclub where she was killed over the weekend.
One by one, they spoke about Silas. She took care of her family, her sister, Brittany Silas, said. She showed up when it mattered, said LeNieca Colbert, one of her former classmates. She was “short and spunky,” said Tasha Silas, her cousin.
Along a busy stretch of road in an industrial part of Kansas City’s Westside, Eboni Silas’ loved ones held a balloon release in her memory after she was shot and killed inside Status Nightclub early Sunday morning. Silas, 29, and Tishauna Ballard, 24, were killed; two others were injured.
“She was loving — she loved her family, she loved her friends,” said her cousin, Tasha. “It’s just unreal.”
As police continue to investigate the deadly shooting, grief and pain laced even the sweetest memories for Eboni Silas’ family as they released a colorful array of heart and star-shaped balloons into the mostly clear skies Monday afternoon.
“My sister didn’t deserve what happened to her,” said Ereekus Washington, one of Eboni’s older sisters. “This is not something that we had seen coming.”
Family and friends, in interviews with The Star, referred to her by her nickname, “Ne-Ne,” and remembered her as a joyful and genuine person.
Monday was an especially painful day for Serenity Robinson, 13, who said she was Silas’ goddaughter. Standing alongside her family, Robinson said Silas was like a mom to her. She recalled a time when Silas went to the store years ago.
“I really didn’t want her to go,” Robinson said. “I never wanted her to go nowhere, to leave me. I always wanted to be with her every single day. Now she’s gone. It’s so hard for me.”
Silas attended House of Heavilin Beauty College and was a beloved hair stylist. Several of her former classmates gathered on the sidewalk outside the Status Nightclub. Colbert, one of the classmates, said she had written down some of her thoughts in memory of Silas.
With tears in her eyes, she read aloud the note on her phone.
“She made women feel beautiful, confident, seen,” Colbert said. “That was her gift. She was genuine and real. No matter how much time passed, when we talked, it felt like we never missed a beat. That kind of friendship is rare.”
Shooting inside nightclub
As of Monday afternoon, no suspect had been taken into custody in the shooting.
Preliminary information, according to police, shows that the victims were inside the business when there was an altercation with “one or more suspects that escalated and led to shots being fired,” police said in a news release Sunday.
Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies were working off duty in the area of 28th Street and Southwest Boulevard around 2 a.m. when they heard gunfire inside the nearby nightclub.
At the same time, 911 received calls about a shooting from inside the building, Capt. Jake Becchina, spokesperson for the Kansas City Police Department, previously told The Star.
When officers arrived, they were led inside the nightclub where they located three women who had been shot. One was pronounced dead at the scene and the second woman died at the hospital, police said in the release. The third woman received what is believed to be non-life threatening injuries, police said.
While officers were still at the scene, they were notified of a fourth victim, a man who had been transported to the hospital by a private vehicle, police said. He was in critical condition Sunday evening, according to police.
Monday afternoon’s gathering in memory of Eboni Silas also served as a reminder of the human toll of Kansas City’s long history of gun violence.
“As a Kansas Citian, this violence needs to stop,” said Washington. “Nobody wants to be going out thinking that they not going to make it home.”
