David Willard, 39, was found dead inside a home in the 2600 block of Cleveland Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, on February 14, 2018. Friends said he had been killed by someone with a gun, a fate he had feared since his brother Todd was fatally shot in 2005. Police found Willard on the kitchen floor surrounded by ten rifle shell casings.

Willard, known to some as Dirt, was a father of three and was expecting to become a grandfather. He was remembered as a talented artist who used both a microphone and a pen, had spent time incarcerated in the past, and had recently become involved with his church. Witnesses reported he had gone to the house that afternoon to give his daughter money and that gunshots were heard shortly after his arrival.

A 16-year-old, Zaire A. Williams, who had been living at the residence, was arrested two days later in Warrensburg and certified to stand trial as an adult. He was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action; witnesses said they saw Williams holding a gun, speaking incoherently, then hiding the weapon and fleeing. One witness described Williams as schizophrenic and bipolar and said he had been acting paranoid in the days before the shooting. Anyone with information about David Willard’s death is asked to come forward.