‘Richard loves everybody’: Lansing man, 42, killed downtown, was family’s biggest protector

LANSING — Shameka Simmons met her husband Richard about three years ago. He was simply her neighbor then, knocking on her door and asking for some sugar.

The two connected almost immediately, she said, talking for nearly 10 hours. She was drawn to his eyes, and within three months, they were married.

"His eyes said a million words," Shameka Simmons said. "His eyes told it all. They told me his mind, body and soul."

The two fell in love and stayed together until his death earlier this month.

Richard Simmons, a 42-year-old Lansing man, was shot and killed July 3 in the 300 block of City Market Drive, near Rotary Park in Lansing, where police found him about 3:05 a.m.

Lansing residents Jamie Melton, 37, and Jermine Davis, 41, both face one count of open murder and carrying a concealed weapon. Davis is also charged with felony firearm possession.

They are both scheduled for preliminary examinations at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 1 in district court before Judge Cynthia Ward.

There were many facets to Simmons' personality, his niece, DeAsia Johnson, said.

He was fiercely loyal and reliable to everyone he cared about. He was also a hard-working family man, with a wife and daughter whom he loved dearly. But around the family, he was always joking.

“Two weeks ago … we just played kickball with him,” Johnson said. “He’s out there making everybody laugh … Richard was playful.”

Family members say Simmons had a bright smile that showed off every tooth in his mouth. If you were his friend or family member, it was always, “Call me if you need me” with him, she said.

Johnson recalled how Simmons supported her family when her brother DeVon Johnson died in a July 2019 car crash.

“He brought life to us after DeVon left,” she said. “Every event that we had for DeVon, he was always the one wearing the most memories. Like he had shorts with DeVon’s face on them … (and) he made sure that DeVon’s son knew who he was.”

In good times and bad, Simmons was his family’s “biggest protector,” she said.

“He did not play about his family,” Johnson said. “He didn’t care what it was. He would sacrifice anything for us. He was a good man. He loved his wife. He loved his daughter, his sister, his nieces, his nephews. Richard loves everybody.”

Simmons was also “so happy” to have his job; he drove a truck transporting goods, his sister Meneriva Smith said.

“(Simmons) was on social media every day when he was driving his truck,” said Smith, his older sister by one year. “He would post it and let everybody see him driving.”

Weeks after his death, Smith and Johnson said, their family is still in shock and disbelief over the sudden loss of a man who was as steady as they come.

“My brother did not deserve this at all. It’s tearing my family up,” Smith said. “I just feel for my mother. This is devastating for her, her only son.”

Simmons' loved ones have found themselves revisiting videos of the man in his element — acting goofy.

Smith has been watching one video daily. In it, she and her brother dance onstage at a benefit concert right after her son DeVon's passing.

“I watch that video over and over again, every day,” Smith said. “He was a clown."

Shameka Simmons has been holding on to several videos, including one recorded at a karaoke bar during their trip to Las Vegas in July 2021. Richard crooned "Ribbon in the Sky" by Stevie Wonder, and by the song's final chorus, she said the entire place was chanting his name.

Contact reporter Jared Weber at 517-582-3937 or jtweber@lsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Family members remember Richard Simmons, 42, shot and killed downtown