Family of slain teenager gathers to mark new surveillance cameras in Seven Oaks Park

Haji Williams returned Wednesday to Seven Oaks Park, where his son was shot and killed last year by an unknown gunman.

Williams had been here in December to mark the spot with a cross and a photo of his son Asaan, 18, who died on March 13, 2015. On Wednesday, he was joined by city leaders, relatives and dozens of supporters to mark the installation of surveillance cameras in the park so that future incidents would be recorded on video.

“It’s really like a bittersweet thing,” Williams said. “It’s bitter because my son was murdered almost exactly one year and a month ago. But there’s something positive that’s come out of it, so he didn’t die in vain.”

Asaan’s killing remains unsolved. Few if any witnesses were willing to talk to police about the shooting after someone sprayed bullets into a crowd in the park at 37th Street and Kensington Avenue. Williams said he’d spoken to a few reluctant bystanders.

“A lot of people said, ‘I’d like to help but I don’t want to get mixed up in all that,’ ” Williams said. “Which I understand. But it’s difficult.”

The lack of help from witnesses inspired Williams and his family to lobby city leaders to install surveillance cameras. His family was joined at the park Wednesday by Kansas City councilmen Jermaine Reed and Quinton Lucas and members of the AdHoc Group Against Crime and the Kansas City parks department. The gathering was held during National Crime Victims Week.

The cameras cover the entire park, day and night, and cost about $90,000, Reed said. The family had submitted a Public Improvements Advisory Committee application requesting funding for the camera system.

Williams said Asaan had been a thoughtful child who spoke like an adult at a young age. At 9 years old, he started reading his grandfather’s encyclopedias.

The son and father were supposed to graduate together last year — Asaan from high school and Williams from the University of Kansas, where he earned a degree in social work.

That graduation day was supposed to be one of the happiest days of his life, Williams said. Now his social work education, which included the study of violence and other problems in the city, has taken on a new meaning.

While thanking members of the community for supporting his effort for the cameras, Williams singled out a neighborhood resident, Edmornia Powell, who had been at the park on the day of the shooting and held Asaan as the teenager died.

“He didn’t die alone,” Williams said. “I’m forever grateful of that.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 9:09 PM.