Family plans to donate organs of woman shot and killed at First Fridays, father says
An Overland Park woman killed in a shooting Friday at a crowded arts event in downtown Kansas City will be an organ donor, potentially helping as many as 50 people, her father told a local television station.
In an interview with KMBC-TV, Tom Langhofer said the donations were something his daughter, 25-year-old Erin Langhofer, would want him to do. A pastor of recovery ministries at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Tom Langhofer said God would direct him in some way to make the bad situation positive.
“I’m committing that to Erin,” he told KMBC-TV. “That’s my commitment to my daughter.”
Erin Langhofer was struck by a bullet near 18th and Main streets Friday night while she was near a group of food trucks with her boyfriend, when the area was still crowded with thousands of people from First Friday activities in the Crossroads Arts District.
Police officials described Langhofer as an innocent bystander.
Deon’te Copkney, 18, of Kansas City, is charged with second-degree murder, among other crimes, in the killing. Copkney allegedly told detectives he fired after he was attacked by someone else, and didn’t intend to hurt anyone when he emptied his clip, according to charging documents.
During his interview with KMBC-TV, Tom Langhofer said his daughter, a therapist at a domestic violence center, had an infectious smile. Loved ones called her “Smiley” since she was young, he said.
“She made a difference in such a short period of time,” he said. “I am so proud of her.”
Uptick in violence
Langhofer was among six people killed within a week in Kansas City as the number of homicides continued on pace to top those of 2018, when 143 people were slain in the city, according to data kept by The Star, which includes fatal police shootings.
Others killed included 23-year-old Aaron Mason, who died from injuries he sustained Wednesday in a shooting that started during an argument at a Wendy’s restaurant in Midtown and spilled outside.
Another shooting left Montae Robertson, 31, and Steven Parsons, 27, dead July 28 in the 2100 block of Monroe Avenue.
No arrests have been announced in those slayings.
During a news conference to announce the charges against Copkney, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker called on witnesses in recent killings come forward. Witness testimony remains the most powerful way for her to make a case, she said.
“I’m really begging the public to step up and tell us more about what they know,” Peters Baker said.
