Jesus Abarca was not just another KCK teen who died a violent death. Learn his story

In a small cemetery on Tuesday, a pretty mother and a stoic father buried their son. They were surrounded by an impressively large group of friends and family, as well as way too many teenagers weeping openly and looking like they had been there before. They definitely have. That’s what those kids do so often.

I was there as well, because I am a teacher at J.C. Harmon High School in Kansas City, Kansas, and in that small, often forgotten city, my student died violently last week.

He was a boy who should be acknowledged. His name was Jesus Abarca. He wasn’t a pretty white girl missing for 24 hours, and there won’t be the outraged outcry he deserves, because Jesus didn’t have money or family clout. But he was a force of immeasurable good humor, kindness and resilience. I kept thinking someone should tell his story, so I’m going to do it.

It’s a story about the boy with a brown-skinned name and big blue eyes. His teachers loved him like their own, maybe because he loved to hear them say nice things to him. Maybe because he always said nice things back. He was the boy who notoriously encountered an attorney and a judge who both described him as the worst car thief in the world. They loved him too, because they knew he was still a boy. A boy who was so bad at being bad.

Jesus mattered and the other kids of Kansas City, Kansas, matter. They aren’t wearily recounted statistics to report and then sunnily dismiss for shinier objects. They are brave and kind and scared and ambitious. They most certainly don’t need to keep going to funerals for friends.

Jesus Abarca died of a gunshot wound during a pandemic. That should have been news, but it wasn’t, not really. You probably don’t know about him. And that’s a shame, you would have really liked him. His mom and dad were almost done raising him, and they had done their very best, because he was famous for being so kind. At 17 years old, that’s a victory.

He was supposed to graduate, and he would have in just a few days. That was a really big deal to Jesus. He was a good math student and an English student who loved “The Lord of the Flies” and wrote his first research paper on the 14th Amendment. He surprised us sometimes because he often managed to do better than he should have. He was busy being a fiercely loyal friend and Raiders fan.

I guess he just didn’t get the right ZIP code lottery ticket. If that’s true, I know for sure he paid the stupidest price.

When a child is killed, I am asking — begging really — for everyone to take a minute and find out more. More about the unnamed victim who is taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. There is going to be a story there, and every mother, father, child, friend or resident of that little city, or any community, deserves to hear it. Everyone deserves to hear it because this is human interest in every way that humans matter.

Be brave when you see a story like this and find out what we have all lost when we keep losing these kids. We must know the loss. We must grieve so we do better. Much better. Jesus deserved that.

This story was originally published May 30, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Jesus Abarca was not just another KCK teen who died a violent death. Learn his story."