'Gentleman' singer gunned down in Raytown parking lot was L.A.-bound
Almost in a whisper, Sharde Holmes sang along with her slain husband's voice on her phone.
"Why she loves me . . . "
This was the sweet-singing voice of Sammy "Klark Kent Da Gent" Holmes on a YouTube video — a warm voice that was going to take the Kansas City, Kan., couple to L.A.
Just two months ago — two months before 30-year-old Sammy Holmes was gunned down in his car Friday outside a Raytown Applebee's restaurant — he had taken Sharde with him to Los Angeles.
He was meeting with producers, she said. The time had come for his music alter-ego to make his hard work pay off.
They were going to take their children and they were going to make the leap to the West Coast, Sharde Holmes, 30, said.
It was exhilarating, she said, to be there staring up at the palm trees, walking through Hollywood, looking out at the homes glinting back at them from the golden heights.
"I'm going to put us in a mansion on the top of the hills," he told her.
But Holmes was killed back home before they could put their plans into motion.
Police believe someone shot Holmes in his car in the parking lot at 9330 Missouri 350 Highway about 6 p.m. Friday. Holmes tried to drive away and crashed near a Sonic restaurant about a half mile away.
Holmes was lying in the street, and would die at a hospital.
Police have not released any suspect information but Sunday they released a surveillance video inside the Applebee's of a woman who investigators want to talk with.
The case is being investigated by the Kansas City metro squad.
"They need to find who did this, and anyone who had anything to do with it," Sharde Holmes said.
"They didn't just take someone. They took someone who meant the world to a lot of people. They took a father . . . They took a husband. They took part of me."
They met 11 years ago when they were both getting gas at Fifth Street and Minnesota Avenue in Kansas City, Kan.
He was sweet, she said. He was different. And the man who made his way working on houses, in cleaning services and in helping in rehab, was already at work on songs.
"He was writing them down," she said. "He spent nights writing. He'd let me listen."
A friend had started calling him Klark Kent years ago, she said. He added "Da Gent" and made it his musical name. He was a super man and "a gentleman," she said.
They both had children with previous partners and they had two children together. Sammy Holmes kept close with all of them.
"Sammy was a family man," his wife said. "His kids loved him to death."
She loved his spirit. Whenever she felt stressed or angry, he loved to calm her down. His favorite words: "Life is too short to be mad."
Family members have set up a GoFundMe page, "Children and Funeral Services," to raise funds for his burial and to help support the children.
Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
This story was originally published June 10, 2018 at 9:36 PM with the headline "'Gentleman' singer gunned down in Raytown parking lot was L.A.-bound."