Family, friends gather to remember 19-year-old killed while watching sideshow

JACKSON COUNTY, Mo. (KCTV) - On Monday, family and friends gathered in the West Bottoms to remember a teenager who was killed as he was spectating cars doing donuts in a Kansas City parking lot.

The family has identified the victim as 19-year-old Blake Holland.

The police said that two vehicles, including an orange Dodge Charger, were conducting an illegal street racing sideshow in front of a large crowd just after midnight on Monday. It took place in the American Freight Warehouse parking lot off Front Street.

During the event, the Charger hit Holland and then drove off.

Holland was initially diagnosed has having non-life-threatening injuries. Soon after, however, he was rushed into surgery and died from his injuries.

The police said the person driving the Charger returned to the parking lot and spoke with officers. That driver was taken into custody.

KCTV5 spoke with Blake’s uncle, Kendall Holland, who drove to Kansas City from Nebraska once he heard the news this morning.

“All these young kids are into these street racing and they can be dangerous. These are amateur drivers, not professional drivers, driving these cars. You don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s tragic and somebody else will lose their life if they keep doing it,” Kendall said.

Friends and family were part of a balloon release today. It was held as a way to remember Blake, a person many say will be very missed.

“He was a fun person. Everyone that came around, he always had a smile on his face. He was friendly with everyone. He talked with everyone. There wasn’t a person I knew that he would be mad at,” said Anthony Talley, who organized the balloon release.

Family and friends told KCTV5 that Blake didn’t really participate in the sideshows; he would just watch and record videos of them.

Previous coverage:

Person watching car doing donuts in parking lot struck and killed, driver in custody

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