‘He was my second dad’: Niece of pedestrian killed in Kansas City crash shares pain of loss
Family and friends of a pedestrian killed while walking down a busy street say he was a gentle giant and “loving and caring” man.
By Jackson Kurtz
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — Family and friends of a pedestrian killed while walking down a busy street say he was a gentle giant and “loving and caring” man.
Jesse Eckes was killed following a chain-reaction crash through the intersection of Benton and Truman Road last Wednesday night.
A vehicle driven struck a Kansas City police car. Eckes and Kansas City police officer James Muhlbauer and his K9 companion were killed.
Doug Langner, director of Hope Faith Ministries, called him a gentle giant not for his statue, but what he did for others.
“He was trying to put everyone’s needs in front of his own needs,” Langner said. “He was a guy who knew when they were down, he tried to do something to joke to lift their own spirits.”
Ekes was also a caring uncle to his niece Brittanie Keating.
“I looked up to him a lot,” she said. “He was my second dad.”
He was looking for a permanent home when he was killed. His family says it feels like a nightmare now that he’s gone.
“Felt like I was in a really bad dream that I wasn’t waking up from,” Keating said. “I was hurt.”
A small memorial is gathering near the crash site.
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