Concert, auction Thursday to help pay for funeral of owner killed in KCK market attack
A benefit concert will be held Thursday night at a Kansas City music venue to help pay for the funeral expenses of a Kansas City, Kansas, market owner who was one of two people killed in during an attack in July.
The concert will include music from Blue 88, 51% Blues Band, and Earl and Them at Knuckleheads Saloon at 2715 Rochester Ave. The show, which costs $10, starts at 7 p.m.
Funds raised will help pay off the thousands the family of Dennis Edwards, who owned Edwards Original Corner Market & Deli, owes for his funeral expenses. Extra money raised will go to the family of Lachell Day, who was fatally shot during the attack.
Edwards’ family expects more than 200 people to attend the concert. A majority of the band members set to perform attended Wyandotte High School, where Edwards graduated in 1974, according to Edwards’ niece, Christina Bennett-Smith.
During the event, Edwards’ family also plan to auction off antique decorations from inside the market, Bennett-Smith said.
The two were killed when Jermelle Andre-Lamont Byers, 39, allegedly walked into the deli, shooting Day and fatally attacking Edwards, according to police and the victims’ families. Byers is accused of barricading himself inside the store, triggering a two-hour standoff with tactical officers — a response that has left grieving relatives with a host of questions.
Byers has been charged with first-degree murder in Edwards’ death and second-degree murder in Day’s death, according to charging documents. His preliminary hearing is set for early October.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we did this story
The Star became aware of the benefit concert when a reporter called a relative of Dennis Edwards, who was among two people killed during an attack in July at his market in Kansas City, Kansas.
This story was originally published September 5, 2019 at 3:25 PM.
