Amaree’ya Henderson’s death hasn’t been widely covered by national media and his GoFundMe account has suffered because of it.
As of May 16, the page only managed to raise $2,680, which is slightly halfway to its goal of $5,148.
“This was unexpected & is a very hard and heartbreaking thing for his family,” a relative of the slain young man wrote on the GoFundMe page. “At this time we are asking for assistance in laying him to rest anything helps.”
Amaree’ya Henderson was killed by KCKPD on April 26 after a confrontation during a traffic stop. Police haven’t released much information surrounding the incident, but the family says he was unarmed and posed no threat to police.
According to the Star, Henderson’s mother was on the phone with him during the moments of his death. She says Henderson called her on FaceTime and asked her to come to where he had been pulled over. Moments later, she overhears gunfire. His fiancee, who was in the car when he was shot, recalls officers “grabbing, pulling, punching” Henderson before he was shot twice.
Last week, protesters, civil rights organizations and community members gathered at the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, demanding that the bodycam footage be released.
Henderson’s mother, Pauletta Johnson, spoke at the rally telling the crowd her son didn’t deserve this type of ending.
“He was a great human being and an awesome son” said Pauletta. “It’s never been a day in his 25 years of life that he has disappointed me and he has always put family first.”
She continued, “What was taken away from me was my only son that I can never get back. I’m scared and I feel like I’m about to fall apart.”
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