Family of young Edwardsville father fatally shot struggle with question: 'Why him?'

As K.C. Gillespie's family prepare for his candlelight vigil Wednesday night, they want to know why someone would kill the young Edwardsville father of a 2-year-old girl.

"Why?" his grandmother Bennie Gillespie said she'd like to ask his killers. "Why all these senseless killings? Kansas City, Kan., used to be such a good place to live. The young generation needs to wake up and say, 'No more.'"

K.C. Gillespie was found shot to death Sunday in his wrecked white Chevrolet Suburban. The SUV crashed into a tree about 1:30 p.m. near 64th Terrace and Tauromee Avenue at the Forest Glen Estates Apartments.

Initially, police responded to the scene on reports of a fatal crash. Arriving officers, however, discovered that Gillespie had been fatally shot.

Police told the family that it appears that he had been shot near Elizabeth and Sundusky avenues in the complex. It is believed he crashed into the tree as he fled north on 64th Street.

"We don't know why he was in that area," Bennie Gillespie said. "Even his best friend doesn't what he was doing in that area."

Family and friends plan to gather at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Edwardsville City Park at 1200 Blake St. for a candlelight vigil.

K.C. Gillespie and his fiancé, Tami Roberts, lived in Edwardsville and were talking about planning a wedding and getting married, his grandmother said. Kali, his daughter, adored her father.

"Kali worshiped her father as well as her mother," Bennie Gillespie said. "He had her with him a lot. He couldn't get away from her."

K.C. Gillespie worked for Smithfield Foods in Edwardsville, where he pulled orders for trucks, his grandmother said.

In his spare time, he would play video games and work on cars.

"He loved cars and wanted to know how to fix them," his grandmother said.

Gillespie was close to his family, and is survived by two younger brothers and his parents. All are devastated, his grandmother said.

His cousins have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for K.C. Gillespie's funeral expenses.

This story was originally published March 14, 2018 at 2:32 PM with the headline "Family of young Edwardsville father fatally shot struggle with question: 'Why him?'."