Kansas City high school student killed in shooting ‘was a great brother and a great son’
Arnita Logan felt like any other mother watching her child pass through the milestones of high school. Over the past three years, she saw her son Darrell Weldon III play in football games, go to dances and look forward to his much-awaited graduation next year.
She would feel the same pride any parent would seeing their child head down the right path in life. However, only a few days after his recent birthday, Weldon’s hopes and dreams for the future were ended when a senseless act of gun violence took his life.
“The family is doing all right, or as much can be expected,” Logan said. “We come from a really big family and everybody will miss him. We will miss his laughter and how he was the one who was always making people laugh.”
Darrell Weldon III, a De La Salle Education Center junior, died March 21 after he was shot at home. He was 17.
Logan said a man came to her house looking for a cousin who he thought lived there. Weldon was home with his younger siblings and other family members, including small children.
After Weldon wouldn’t let him in, the suspect opened fire, hitting Weldon, who later died from his injuries after arriving at the hospital.
The death is a massive loss for a mother who says she will miss the one person in the family who could turn anyone’s day around with his smile. Like many teens, he enjoyed playing sports like football, which he was involved in for years, and his favorite video game, Call of Duty, which he played with friends online. Weldon had hoped to go to business school after graduation and had an interest in becoming an electrician.
His mother will remember him as someone who would go the extra mile to turn someone’s day around.
“He was really goofy and silly. He loved to laugh and he would always make people laugh. If you were sitting there mad about something he would always do or say something to help put a smile on their face,” she said.
While many people in Weldon’s age group are out getting their first life experiences, Logan said her oldest son’s life revolved around being a good big brother. Logan, a mother of four children, said Weldon was a tremendous help in her difficult times, when she struggled as a single mother to work 12-hour shifts and still ensure that the children were cared for. She said Weldon stepped up at a young age and watched the household while she worked.
“As a son he was great. The best. He helped take care of his younger siblings and made sure they ate, got their homework done and he would make sure the house was clean before I got home,” Logan said.
The suspect in the shooting is still at large, but Logan and the family hope he will be brought to justice soon so the family can close this dark chapter. Logan sees the situation that led to the death of her son as completely avoidable and hopes the man responsible knows the irreparable damage he has done to their family.
“He took a great person. He was a great brother and a great son. He didn’t have to do any of that, my son was only 17 and didn’t have anything to do with whatever he had going on with my cousin.”
Funeral services for Weldon were held April 5 at Savory and Sons Funeral Home. Logan said she and the family were touched by the outpouring of support from friends and classmates who came to pay their respect. In attendance were football teammates who shared stories of how Weldon was a not just a good athlete but also a great person.
“They said my son was able to bring them all together,” Logan said. “They said he was more than just a teammate, he was their brother.”
Other Remembrances
Harold Manlove
Harold Manlove, a former Air Force mechanic and retired truck driver, died on April 4. He was 84.
Manlove was born in St. Louis on July 12, 1938, to Isaac and Gertrude Manlove. His family relocated when he was still young to Kansas City, where he would attend Lincoln High School.
Throughout his life, he had a love of cars and working with his hands, a talent that would lead him into future endeavors. After leaving school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force as a mechanic repairing airplanes. His service allowed Manlove to travel internationally for the first time, including locations all over Europe, until the end of his tour in 1959.
After concluding his service, Manlove worked odd jobs until finally landing on the occupation of truck driver, which he would enjoy doing for the next 30 years until his retirement. After that, Manlove traveled for a while, moving to Florida and Texas before ending up in Kansas City.
Manlove married five times throughout his life and fathered six children.
He is survived by his siblings, Madlyn Chinn, Dionne Cox, Jeron Manlove and Chevonne Manlove; his children, Linda Manlove-Braxton, Harold Manlove Jr., Demona Manlove-Toney, Jonathan Manlove Sr., William Manlove and Robert Manlove; and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins and friends.
Scott Robinson Jr.
Scott Robinson Jr., a retired drug and alcohol counselor, died March 27. He was 71.
Robinson was born May 27, 1951, to Scott and Betty Robinson in Kansas City, Kansas. Robinson was the oldest of five children. He graduated from Bishop Ward High School in 1969. He left for college soon after that, attending the University of Kansas, where he would graduate with a degree in psychology and a minor in social work.
While in college, Robinson joined Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the oldest African American fraternity in the world. It was in this brotherhood he would learn the importance of community service.
After college Robinson met and eventually married Alma Baker in 1972. The couple had two children. She passed away in 1990. Robinson met Deborah Canady, whom he would marry in 1991 and spend the next 25 years with.
Throughout his life, Robinson worked in jobs focusing on helping people recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.
Robinson is survived by his two children, Ursula Robinson and Scott Taylor Robinson; his siblings, Rosalyn Ward, Kim Robinson and Lloyd Robinson; and a host of grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends.
