Family holds vigil, urging police to do more months after Kansas City man killed
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thursday marked near the intersection of E. 6th Street and Monroe Avenue in northeast Kansas City.
'I'm grieving, but I'm not,' . 'I cannot fully mourn, at times, I will start to break. And I just stop, take a deep breath, cause I can't. I can't do it, especially looking at the babies.'
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Zelpha described Jonathan as an outdoorsman and a caring father.
'His number one priority and in things was his three children. He loved his kids; he would do anything for these kids. That was his number one,' she said.
Zelpha said it's been tough for the three, ages 5, 6 and 17, to come to terms with what happened.
'They'd say 'this is the worst Thanksgiving ever, this is the worst Christmas ever. We want daddy!''
In the six months since Jonathan's death, Zelpha said Kansas City police haven't done enough.
'There's been no progress,' she said. 'The only thing I'm being told is, 'oh, calm down, it's still an open case, we haven't closed it.' There's been no arrest, no questioning, no nothing.'
She said she's even brought information about the case to detectives.
'I feel as if it were their child, they would have someone in custody,' she said. 'Why aren't they doing more? Why aren't they doing something?'
The night of Jonathan's death, Zelpha said he called her asking to live with her full time. He had lined up a job that he would've started the following Monday, and had even made arrangements to go to an inpatient rehab facility.
'He was he was ready to get everything under control,' she said. 'And that that happened that night. He's not just a homeless drug addict, I mean even if he was, c'mon they're human and have a life and have family somewhere.'
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She said there are people who know what happened to Jonathan, and they need to tell the police.
'He had three beautiful children. Let them have peace please,' she begged. 'Please, before it happens to you or someone you love, call in, do something, please.'
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