Vehicle involved in hit-and-run death week before Christmas found, police say
Kansas City police have located the vehicle involved in a hit-and-run near near Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Elmwood Avenue that killed one man a week before Christmas.
KCPD spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina said in an email that traffic investigations detectives found the vehicle they had been searching for since Dec. 21. Police have identified the occupants of the vehicle, Becchina said, though no arrests have been made.
The victim of the hit-and-run was identified as 24-year-old DeYontá D. Tenner of Kansas City. He was walking home from work just after midnight on Dec. 18 when police said he was struck by the car. His body wasn’t found until the following Sunday morning, more than 48 hours later.
The vehicle that hit him, police said on Twitter, was traveling at a high rate of speed in the northbound lanes when it left the road and struck Tenner, who was pronounced dead from his injuries.
“He was a very outgoing, loving person ... He loved to meet people. He always smiled. His smile, it shone just like the sun,” Tenner’s mother Tercia Tenner said of her son. She spent part of her Christmas Eve at the cemetery.
“He was working toward becoming a tattoo artist,” she said. “He hoped to have his own shop and his own business.”
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.
“My son wanted love and peace for his son first, for his family and for the world,” she said.
