Family and friends remember gym owner killed in shooting

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    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV, KSMO) — Friends and family of the man killed in the Jazz District Sunday remember him as a mentor and coach to hundreds of people who wanted to improve their lives.

One person has been killed following a shooting near 18th and Vine in Kansas City, MO.

They identified him as Gary Taylor, 34, formerly a star quarterback at Center High School, and the owner of Power House gym in Raytown, Mo.

On Monday morning they gathered there to remember him.

Rashouna Harris, Taylor’s girlfriend, described him as a man who lived to help others.

“Gary’s heart was so big,” Harris said. “He was very passionate, very caring, very dedicated.”

Taylor’s younger brother, Alex, said Gary had always been a natural coach and mentor.

“He wanted everyone to be the best version of themselves,” he said.

As a football captain in high school Gary had taken a liking to Sedrick Ward, a Freshman at the time. Ward said he continued to work with Taylor after high school. The two were about to open up another gym together.

“He had nothing but our best interests at all time,” Ward said.

Meanwhile, business owners and community leaders in the Jazz District met to discuss ways to improve security on the weekends. The meeting had been scheduled weeks in advance, part of a series of community efforts.

Henry Service, who owns the Lincoln Building at 18th and Vine, criticized what he called a lack of effort by the city to deter crime by barricading streets, improving lighting and other measures businesses have requested.

“Let’s be honest, the city doesn’t treat us fairly in terms of allocating resources like they have other districts,” Service said.

Mayor Quinton Lucas responded to the incident Monday afternoon, too.

“I will say straight up at some point, we need businesses to come together too,” he said. “I think you see a difference of opinion in terms of what people want to see. I’ve heard people say we don’t want 50 police officers on the streets either. So where is the balance?”

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