‘God sees all’: KC mother wants help finding hit-and-run driver who killed her son
Tercia Tenner spent part of her Christmas Eve at the cemetery. Her 24-year-old son was killed by a hit-and-run driver nearly a week ago.
“God sees all,” she said. “Please, if you saw something, say something.”
Her son, DeYontá D. Tenner of Kansas City, was walking home from work just after midnight last Friday morning when police said he was struck by a car near Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Elmwood Avenue. His body wasn’t found until Sunday morning, more than 48 hours later. Police announced his identity Thursday morning.
“He was a very outgoing, loving person,” Tenner said of her son. “He loved to meet people. He always smiled. His smile, it shone just like the sun.”
Tenner also was a devoted father of a 1-year-old boy, DeYontá Tenner Jr. He “dreamed to be the best father and supporter” for his son, his mother said.
“He was working toward becoming a tattoo artist,” she said. “He hoped to have his own shop and his own business.”
There are a lot of artistic people in the family, his mother said, and he was just born with the talent and wanted to share it with others.
“I believe in my heart that why he loved it so much is because it was something that he could share that, you know, belonged to him with everybody,” his mother said.
Kansas City police have released a collage of of surveillance photos of the car they believe was involved in the deadly crash. They are asking for help identifying it.
“The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed in the northbound lanes, left the roadway striking a pedestrian who was pronounced dead from their injuries,” police said on Twitter.
They also released a video of the suspect vehicle Wednesday, saying it “will be heavily damaged possibly in the left rear quarter panel and the back window will be shattered.”
Anyone with information about the death or the vehicle is asked to call a police detective at 816-949-1524 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
The loss has been hard on the family, Tenner said.
“My son wanted love and peace for his son first, for his family and for the world,” she said.
This story was originally published December 24, 2020 at 2:49 PM.
