‘My heart is broken.’ Family mourns 20-year-old fatally shot at sideshow in Kansas City
Thomas Lewis died doing what he loved, even though it came with its share of risk.
A native of Johnson County, where his family lived in both Gardner and Lenexa, Lewis attended sideshows in Kansas City because he loved “fast cars and burning rubber,” his mother Wiesje Sammis said.
When he was killed early Monday, Jan. 30, in Kansas City, his older sister Rontay Etier said Lewis was at another sideshow with his girlfriend and two friends when one of them called her.
“He kept saying, ‘Thomas is dying. Thomas is dying,” Etier said.
As Lewis’ friend talked to Etier, she could hear him telling Lewis to keep breathing. He hung up to try CPR, while Etier and her mother raced to the scene. She said they waited at least an hour before they could get any information.
Police responded just before 1 a.m. to the area of Meyer Boulevard and Swope Parkway following the shooting. At the scene, they located Lewis in a vehicle near 55th Street and Cleveland Avenue suffering from gunshot wounds.
An officer told Etier and her mom that a young man in a vehicle was dead, with gunshot wounds to his neck, back and leg. They couldn’t yet confirm that it was Lewis who had died, but officials asked the family to identify his tattoos: a large symbol on his neck, an image of Etier’s late son on his wrist and his mother’s birthday on the other wrist.
As they returned home, Etier knew her brother was dead.
At 5 a.m., the detective came to the door and confirmed their fears.
“It’s like my heart is broken and it is stabbing me on the inside because no one can bring my son back,” Sammis said.
‘Gentle on the inside’
Her brother didn’t attend illegal sideshows to cause violence, Etier said, but to watch Hellcats and other classic cars rev their engines and zoom past. After he died, she recorded his last Snapchat where he cheered watching an old pickup truck do doughnuts.
Lewis was a “knucklehead,” Etier and Sammis said jokingly. He always asked to borrow five or 10 dollars, promised to pay it back, and then never did. If Etier woke up and her Mustang or Dodge Charger were gone, she knew Lewis had gone for a joy ride. Her brother was young and craved adventure, even if he made a few mistakes along the way.
“He was a handful, but he was our handful,” Etier said.
Her brother’s interest in cars went beyond sideshows.
He bought a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass to fix up and started classes for a welding program at Johnson County Community College a week before his killing. To honor him, the family will continue repairing the car, just like Lewis wanted.
In a Gardner Facebook group, Lewis offered his services to help neighbors fix their decks, mow their lawns or remove snow.
“He was a very good kid,” Etier said. “He was hard-headed, don’t get me wrong, but he was trying to find himself.”
Lewis had country roots but also loved city styles. One day, he’d wear cowboy boots and a big buckle, and the next he sported Jordans. Some people made fun of his changing style, but he was always himself, Sammis said.
After a family photo shoot in October, Lewis’ 2-year-old son kept a pair of cowboy boots on for three days straight, even sleeping in them, so he could be more like his dad.
Etier’s children, ages 1, 4 and 8, looked up to Lewis, too. More than a day after his fatal shooting, she hadn’t broken the news to them. She wasn’t sure how to do it.
Lewis was “gentle on the inside” and loved his family. When she was having her second child in Overland Park, Lewis walked an hour to the hospital, helped Etier with a maternity photo shoot and fell asleep holding the new baby.
“He just wanted to be there,” she said.
Lewis’ family created a GoFundMe to help pay for burial and funeral costs. As of Saturday, it has raised more than $3,000.
‘They are traumatized’
Lewis’ friends told Etier that, moments before the fatal shooting, Lewis said he’d accidentally shot himself in the ankle and hobbled back to his car. Lewis told his pregnant girlfriend and friends, who were also in the car, that he needed to go to the hospital.
Then, a man wearing a mask and glasses came to the window, asked if Lewis was OK and then opened fire on the car, hitting it about six to eight times, Etier said.
The shots shattered the car’s back window. Glass cut into one friend’s face. Officials said she was lucky she didn’t lose an eye.
Lewis was still breathing after he was shot. His friends searched for a hospital while on the phone with police, who told them to stop the car and wait for an ambulance.
In that time, Lewis died.
At their home, Etier said the friends apologized over and over again for not saving Lewis’ life. She reassured them it wasn’t their fault. She sees how the shooting shook them.
Lewis’ best friend keeps texting her, saying that he can’t stop replaying what happened in his mind.
“They are traumatized,” Etier said. “It’s something that’s hard to unsee. It’s so sad that that’s the last thing they did see.”
Whoever killed her brother, Etier believes, did it intentionally. With the large number of people who attend the sideshows and street cameras, Etier and Sammis said they don’t understand why no one is in custody for the killing.
“I just want this guy caught,” Sammis said. “I want someone held accountable. It will not bring Thomas back, but you have to be held accountable.”
Police have urged anyone with information in the case to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043 or the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477. Up to a $25,000 reward is available for information leading to an arrest in this case.
In November, police announced a plan to crackdown on illegal sideshows, which have increased across the city. Sgt. Mike Ward warned in a video posted to Twitter that sideshow participants could go to jail for putting themselves and others at risk. The department said it would actively enforce the law to better control the issue.
This story was originally published February 6, 2023 at 8:34 AM.
