18-year-old shot & killed in KC remembered as ‘whole world’ to mom, 8 siblings
Aaron Williams used to pester his eight younger siblings with his “ugly feet”. Now, they said they would gladly tolerate them just to have another moment with him.
Williams, 18, was shot and killed on July 20 outside a Kansas City apartment complex.
On the morning of the shooting, Kansas City police were sent to the 1300 block of East 89th for a sounds of shots call, and received an additional call for a shooting at an apartment complex while en route. Officers were sent to an apartment where they found Williams suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Williams was transported to a hospital, where he was declared dead. The shooting appeared to have occurred outside in the street, not inside an apartment, according to Kansas City police spokesperson Alayna Gonzalez.
Detectives told Danielle Benson, Williams’s mother, that he was shot in the arm and died shortly after.
Williams swapped time between living with her and his father. While his mom is unsure about the circumstances around her son’s death, what she does know is that she deeply misses her oldest son, her goofy partner, with whom she frequently made videos.
“It’s like my whole world went black,” Benson said.
Benson’s videos helped her gain a strong social media following with more than 100,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. One of Benson’s most popular videos shows Williams jumping off a snow-covered porch into a snowy front yard wearing just shorts and a ski mask.
His excitement for the winter helped the video amass millions of views across Benson’s accounts.
“Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t even have a phone, because I got a phone for him and it ain’t rang in almost 30 days now,” Benson said. “That’s what I miss. He will blow my phone up, 24/7.”
Williams’s life was just beginning before he was killed, his mother pointed out.
On May 15, he graduated from Center High School. He turned 18 on May 30. Williams was working to obtain his driver’s license and preparing to work at a nursing home for one of his first jobs after graduation. He was a thoughtful big brother, frequently joking with his younger siblings and making them food.
Williams was most passionate about his music, something his mother and his siblings supported and enjoyed.
But July 30, he was buried, and never got the chance to see any of his dreams come to fruition, his mother said.
“He didn’t have enough time,” Benson said. “It’s like the time was winding down so fast. I never would have expected it.”
‘Pain in his music’
In Benson’s family, each of her children have a role in the household.
With ages ranging from 15 years old to three years old, each of Williams’ siblings has a partner that they rely on whenever they leave home. Home can be complicated for the family, as they’ve been searching for permanent housing for more than a year due to an alleged abusive relationship which led to the burning of their previous home.
Benson’s former partner, Larod Henderson, was recently sentenced to five years in prison for unlawful use of a weapon, second-degree domestic assault and first degree arson, according to Jackson County court records.
Williams and his other siblings were aware of the nature of the relationship, correcting Benson as she explained that she thought she was hiding it from her children. The eldest sibling strongly disapproved of their relationship and channeled his feelings through his music as a rapper, going by the name Lil Ren.
“I done been through a lot... you ain’t never felt the pain until you looked in yo mama’s eyes,” Williams said in his song, “Ain’t Ren”, the only song that has a music video on his YouTube account.
Williams worked at thrift stores and Papa John’s, Benson said, to be able to pay for things without his mother’s assistance.
“Got too many siblings on my back, I’m they biggest influence,” Williams said in a song titled “Mostly Me”.
Music brought the family closer together. The last thing Williams gave his mother, three days before his death, were red Beribes over-the-ear headphones that she now treasures.
“He said ‘Something is telling me give them to you,’” Benson said.
Williams and Benson’s oldest daughter, Lanay, has the same father and splits time between living with both parents. While Benson keeps her children on a mostly vegan and vegetarian diet, Williams regularly ate fast food and snacks and spent more time away from his family.
He would beg his 13-year-old sister, Laycie, to make him oatmeal because she made it well. Williams would also dunk Laycie and his other siblings when they had pool days.
Benson was impressed by how adventurous her son was, attempting to play sports, even though he couldn’t make teams, and was always open to trying new things.
But music was his primary love.
“He tried everything. But his favorite thing was rapping. He just loved to rap. If nothing else mattered, he said his pain in his music,” Benson said.
“I been feeling pain my whole life,” Williams said in a song where he rapped over Nigerian singer Tems’s hit song “Free Mind”.
‘A better place’
As much as Williams’s death hurts his loved ones, Benson believes her oldest son is still helping them.
The family is preparing to move into a new home where they can fit comfortably and has been receiving donations as they navigated through their housing struggles, Benson said.
“Might sound bad, but at the same time, it’s helping us get to a better place, because there now we have help, and it took this for us to get the help,” she said.
The help is needed and appreciated as the family still copes. It’s much quieter when they are together. Eerie, frustrating, scary, as Benson puts it. She still feels like she could go see him at his father’s house.
“I pulled up to his dad’s house, and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s not here. He’s not coming outside,’” she said. “Sometime I call his phone, like, ‘Hey, why I ain’t talk to you in a minute?’ realizing that, oh, your phone’s not gonna ring.”
Because law enforcement releases limited information during investigations, Benson doesn’t want any updates until police can gather a full story of how Williams died. Police spokesperson Sgt. Phil DiMartino could not provide The Star a recent update on the case.
Instead, she said she’ll work to remain strong for her children and their busy lives as they mourn Williams, who inspired his loved ones.
“It’s just so different, because I feel like my videos won’t be the same, just to not have another video with him, it’s just hard,” Benson said.
“But I have to be strong for them. I can’t cry in front of them. If I cry, they all cry, and then the house is out of whack.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2025 at 12:42 PM.
