One year after his death, family honors slain Kansas City 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro
Rapheal Taliferro woke up Tuesday morning with a bittersweet feeling.
In his heart, he knows his son is now in a better place. But he still feels the anger, resentment and pain of a grieving father whose son was ripped away suddenly and violently.
“In reality, this past year, it’s been there,” he told The Star on Tuesday afternoon as he stood in the graveyard where his 4-year-old son LeGend Taliferro is buried during a memorial on the one-year anniversary of his death. “It’s been there for me. A lot of emotion. A lot of anger.”
LeGend Taliferro died in the early hours of June 29, 2020 after he was fatally struck by a bullet as he slept in his bed at the Citadel Apartments at 1642 Bushman Drive in Kansas City. Family remembered the boy as a fighter who overcame a rare heart condition only to have his life cut short by what authorities have described as a retaliatory shooting targeting his residence.
The homicide was Kansas City’s 96th of 2020, according to data maintained by The Star. With a final tally of 182 dead, last year was the bloodiest in modern history for a city that has long been plagued by violent crime, especially gun-related killings.
The boy’s death shocked Kansas City. It also became a rallying cry against gun violence locally and across the U.S., capturing the attention of local and national politicians and law enforcement officials.
A federal crime-fighting initiative was launched in response targeting Kansas City along with other major cities around the nation — including St. Louis, Memphis and Detroit — where gun violence reached epidemic proportions in 2020.
Called Operation LeGend, more than 200 agents and investigators were briefly dispatched to Kansas City. Within three months, the U.S. Department of Justice announced federal charges had been brought against nearly 150 people, including 80 for gun-related offenses and 13 for other violent crimes.
In LeGend Taliferro’s killing, criminal charges have been filed against 22-year-old Ryson Ellis. He is accused of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action.
Charging documents allege Ellis shot up LeGend Taliferro’s home following a dispute involving the boy’s family that occurred less than a week prior.
In late June of last year, Ellis had allegedly assaulted a woman by striking her in the head and yanking a baby from her arms. The assault victim told her brothers, including LeGend Taliferro’s father, who confronted Ellis about the assault and a fight broke out.
Six days later, court records allege, Ellis stood in a grassy area behind a wooden privacy fence at the apartment building where LeGend Taliferro slept and fired shots inside.
On Tuesday, the elder Taliferro, along with relatives and friends, gathered at the boy’s gravesite in XII Gates Cemetery. Signature balloons were held by friends and family, many of whom donned T-shirts with LeGend Taliferro’s name and face.
His heart-shaped headstone was decorated with flowers and toy basketballs. Family and friends released the balloons after a brief prayer.
Rapheal Taliferro said his son always brought the family closer together — and the memorial Tuesday was no exception. He also recognizes that his son’s death has brought greater attention to Kansas City gun violence and is a part of the memory he leaves behind.
“It’s a big part of my son’s legacy,” he said. “It’s big to see how my son’s death changed or tried to bring a change in awareness to our city.”
At the same time, Rapheal Taliferro thinks there’s much more work that must be done. And he hopes to someday soon start a foundation or organization honoring his son to “better his legacy or to make it go on forever,” he said.
The Star’s Anna Spoerre contributed to this report.
