Kansas City nightclub shooting victims remembered at memorial

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Family and friends gathered Monday to honor two women killed in a shooting at a nightclub early Sunday morning.

Eboni Silas, 29, and Tishuana Ballard, 24, were shot and killed inside Status Nightclub near 28th and Southwest Boulevard just after 2 a.m. Sunday. Two others were wounded in the shooting.

Police continue to search for the person who pulled the trigger.

Family and friends released heart-shaped balloons outside the nightclub on Monday afternoon to remember the victims.

“My sister didn’t deserve what happened to her,” said Ereekus Washington, Silas’s sister. “She was not a part of the original altercation. That’s not who she was.”

Washington said her sister would have turned 30 this year and was planning to move to Texas.

“She’s a beautiful soul. She started a business and some more things,” Washington said. “She wasn’t in no mess and in no drama.”

Jamie Richardson, who worked with Silas at her salon, said they had been discussing Silas’ Valentine’s Day plans.

“We were excited. We were talking about her hairstyle, her outfits, everything that she was going to be wearing,” Richardson said. “I want people to know that she was more than just what happened to her, that she was very innovative. She was very smart. She had goals and dreams.”

Raymond Banks was inside the club when the shooting occurred.

“All you heard was just shots,” Banks said. “It’s very traumatic as far as you don’t know how long it’s going to last.”

Banks said there were hundreds of people packed into the club.

“Most everybody got out of there, for the most part. It was only a few that were still there,” he said.

Friends of the victims called for increased security measures at nightclubs.

“More security and just, like, more, like, metal detectors, more searches,” said Nandi McMillin, who was best friends with Ballard. “If anyone has guns or, like, weapons, they should, like, do more pat-downs so nothing like this would ever happen again.”

Richardson said she wants whoever is responsible to surrender.

“I would like to see whoever did this turn their selves in,” Richardson said.

Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forte confirmed no deputies were providing security at the venue that night.

Police are asking anyone with information to call the Tips Hotline, 816.474.TIPS.