Memorial, protest planned for 5-year-old who fell from Kansas City high rise
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Grayson O’Connor, 5, died after apparently falling from his downtown high-rise home on Nov. 27, just a month before his sixth birthday.
The court documents surrounding his death have been sealed, but as FOX4 previously reported the boy’s mother is at the center investigation after those documents were accidentally posted online last Thursday for the public to view.
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To honor Grayson’s life and demand justice in his case, a birthday memorial and protest are being planned for next Wednesday, Dec. 27.
Victoria Shaw, a Kansas City resident who’s organizing the event, didn’t know the 5-year-old but felt compelled by his story. She’s a mother to two girls and finds it unfathomable to think about how he died.
The little boy’s birthday memorial is planned to start at 2 p.m. Dec. 27 at the Grand Boulevard Lofts at 10th and Grand. A protest will follow at 3:30 p.m. Shaw said it will start at the high rise lots and continue half a mile to KCPD Headquarters and the Jackson County Courthouse.
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The purpose is to demand justice for Grayson and get the court documents unsealed.
Shaw’s been vocal online about his death, even creating Grayson’s Toy Box: No Child Left Behind, which collects toys to distribute to different organizations.
“I want his name to live on forever — not just after this memorial, not just after his birthday. It’ll be [every] Christmas and his birthday every year,” she said.
One of those organizations receiving gifts from Grayson’s Toy Box is Independence-based FosterAdopt Connect, which helps abused and neglected children.
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So far about a dozen people have donated to Grayson’s Toy Box, including the Kansas City Police Department. An Amazon registry, listed under Grayson’s Toy Box, is up allowing people to select a toy to purchase and donate.
Meanwhile, a Linwood, Kansas, pastor, who claimed that Grayson and his mother visited his church for a few weeks more than a year ago, reflected on the boy’s death Wednesday at the annual “The Longest Night, which pays respect to homicide victims in the metro.
He called Grayson “a wonderful little boy” whom they “loved and cared for.” He then called for action when it comes to suspected child neglect and abuse.
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“[Grayson] is typical of so many children in our community who need other people who see something that’s not normal, see something that’s not right, to become involved in their life, and to really take a stand for a child and say, ‘This needs to change.’ If we could just speak up when we see something that’s not right, that’s what we all must do. It’s incumbent upon us to do that,” he said.
