'One more hole in our hearts': Breonna Taylor protesters mourn death of leader Chris Wells

He played Santa for Christmas. He shined on the dance floor. And he was always the best-dressed person in the room.

But when people think of Chris Wells, they'll remember him most with a bullhorn, leading nightly marches through downtown Louisville in Breonna Taylor's name, never ceasing no matter how few people joined him.

On Sunday, Wells was found dead in his apartment from a gunshot wound. He was 33.

In a press release, Louisville Metro Police said officers responded to a shooting on east Oak Street, where they determined a man died from a self-inflicted wound based on their investigation and several interviews. A Jefferson County deputy coroner confirmed Monday that Wells was the victim.

"A leader and a king. Gone away too soon," Stachelle Bussey, founder of The Hope Buss and a representative for Wells' family, said in a text. "... He was a leader, his heart was in the right place, and he was committed to his city being a better place to live for his kids and ours."

Wells was a father of three young children who attended Bussey's church, and he was always willing to lend a hand, especially when it came to events for kids.

"He was just a giving person," said Tyra Walker, a co-chair of the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. "He was giving, he was spiritual."

In the protests, his friends said, Wells found his voice, calling for the arrests of the officers who shot and killed Taylor while serving a search warrant at her apartment.

In summer 2020, Wells told The Courier Journal he'd quit his jobs and put his life "on hold" for the protests, seeing a June arrest as almost a badge of honor.

"I love getting locked up," he said at the time. "You know why? Because it was for standing up for what's right. I didn't get locked up for selling drugs, I didn't get locked up for killing no one, I didn't get locked up for doing anything wrong. I got locked up for standing up for what's right."

After the nightly protests cooled, Wells got involved with several grassroots groups, helping register people to vote and promoting gun safety.

Tim Findley, senior pastor of the Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center, said Wells "represented everything that was right about the movement" and in one of their last conversations, he encouraged Wells to become a preacher.

"He was passionate, brilliant, a strategist, one that just really took to heart exactly what this fight is all about," Findley said.

Now, friends say, Wells is another reminder of what protesters have continued to fight for since they first took to the streets in May 2020.

"Although not directly, this speaks to a city that is unsettled and has yet to recognize the harm that was done by the Breonna Taylor case," Bussey said. "... The city treated us like dogs in the streets, only because we sought out truth and justice.

"(Wells) wasn't another person, he was a piece of our movement and now we all have one more hole in our hearts. One more funeral to attend."

Through Sunday afternoon, messages poured in on Facebook from people whose lives Wells had touched.

"You saved my life! I will forever be grateful!" one person wrote.

"You promised me we would march again," another said.

"It's a sad day for BREEWAYY and your FAMILY," posted Tamika Palmer, Taylor's mother. "Chris, you will never be forgotten."

More:Prosecutors want 26 Breonna Taylor protesters to be tried together. Is that even possible?

Shameka Parrish-Wright, the state director for VOCAL-Kentucky and a constant presence at Jefferson Square Park where protesters met every day for more than six months, said Taylor's killing and its aftermath led many people, including Wells, to find their purpose.

Once the protests slowed down, however, they lost their outlet and felt their voices were no longer heard, she said. She questioned what could have happened if elected officials had invited young protesters to help make city-level decisions and connected them to the right resources.

"I think if he'd have gotten a call like that, it would have done wonders for his life," Parrish-Wright said. "... We want to know that we weren't out there for nothing."

In a statement, Mayor Greg Fischer said he met with Wells during the protests and he is "deeply saddened" by his death.

"We recognize the critical need to address issues like depression and anxiety, which have been exacerbated by the challenges of the past two years, including a global pandemic," he said, noting his administration has worked to expand access to trauma therapy services by training counselors and mental health workers on racial, sexual and domestic trauma.

Walker of the Kentucky Alliance said Wells' death follows other difficult losses in the "protest family," including Travis Nagdy and Kris Smith who were both killed in late 2020.

Though the group finally saw justice in the recent federal charges against several LMPD officers involved in Taylor's death, Walker said it seems like protesters will never be able to fully heal.

"We have a scab that we are trying to heal and every time we start the healing process, it's like wham, it's just ripped right off," she said. "It's like you're hurting and you're in pain and all this grief and trauma hurts all over again. It's like we're not getting any relief."

Related:Which officers face federal charges in the Breonna Taylor case: What you should know

Walker and others say there's still work to be done to connect people with mental health services, especially those affected by racial trauma.

And to those who are hurting, Findley said, "please, please take time and talk to somebody. Even if you feel like you're fine."

People in crisis or their loved ones can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text LOU to 741741 to speak with a trained crisis counselor.

Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore at bloosemore@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4646 or on Twitter @bloosemore. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: https://www.courier-journal.com/baileyl.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville activist, Breonna Taylor protest leader Chris Wells dies