'I never thought my son would be gone this soon': Devastated parents of Washburn U football player Dwane Simmons pay tribute to 'loving, funny' 23-year-old and demand justice after he was shot dead at a house party
- Dwane Simmons was gunned down on a street in Topeka, Kansas, early Sunday
- The 23-year-old was out celebrating with his Washburn University teammate Corey Ballentine, who has just been drafted by the New York Giants NFL team
- Police are searching for the shooter who allegedly fired from inside a passing car
- Dwane's family is pleading for anyone with information to contact investigators
- His heartbroken father Navarro Simmons said: 'This was a senseless murder'
- His mother Chaquilla Everette added: 'For someone to take him so senselessly, I mean he didn't deserve it, I never thought my son would be gone this soon'
- Loved ones say Dwane was 'the life of the party' and had an infectious smile
- He dreamed of playing in the NFL or with 'anyone who would take him'
- Ballentine, 23, is expected to make a full recovery
The parents of Washburn University football player Dwane Simmons are demanding justice after the 23-year-old was shot dead at a house party over the weekend.
Dwane was out celebrating his roommate Corey Ballentine being drafted by the New York Giants NFL team in the early hours on Sunday morning when gunfire was reported on a residential street in Topeka, Kansas.
Detectives told the family that Dwane and Ballentine were about to leave the party hosted by Washburn's women's soccer team when a car pulled up in front of the home and the passengers asked them a question.
The car then circled back around and someone inside started shooting, killing Dwane and injuring Ballentine, 23.
'This was a senseless murder,' Dwane's father Navarro Simmons said. 'This shattered a lot of people.'
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Loved ones are paying tribute to Washburn University football player Dwane Simmons after the 23-year-old was shot dead outside a house party in Topeka, Kansas, early Sunday morning. Dwane is pictured on the field with his mother Chaquilla Everette
Dwane's father Navarro Simmons (above) pleaded for anyone with information about his murder to come forward: 'My son deserves justice, please speak up if you know anything'
Navarro spoke to the media as friends and family gathered at Dwane's childhood home in Lees Summit, a suburb of Kansas City, hours after his death.
The heartbroken father described the moment Ballentine called him on Sunday morning to deliver the devastating news that his son had been killed.
'I was like, hey Corey congratulations and this and that, but then when he said, no Mr Simmons, it's not good,' Navarro told KSHB.
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Speaking at Dwane's childhood home in Lees Summit on Sunday, his mother Chaquilla Everette (above) said: 'I never thought my son would be gone this soon'
'My heart just dropped and I just hopped up out of bed, I was scared.'
Fighting back tears, Dwane's mother Chaquilla Everette told the Kansas City Star: 'For someone to take him so senselessly, I mean he didn't deserve it, I never thought my son would be gone this soon.
'He was well loved at Washburn so, if anybody hears anything, I believe somebody's going to say something.'
Navarro also pleaded for anyone with information about Dwane's murder to come forward.
'My son deserves justice, please speak up if you know anything, they have anonymous lines out there, speak up,' he said as Dwane's sister cried into his shoulder.
Addressing whoever pulled the trigger, Navarro said: 'You hurt a lot of people. Turn yourself in.'
Dwane was killed and his teammate Corey Ballentine (right) was injured when gunfire erupted on a residential street in Topeka at around 12.45am Sunday. They were out celebrating Ballentine being drafted to the New York Giants NFL team hours earlier
Relatives described Dwane as 'the life of the party' with an infectious smile who was constantly surrounded by those who loved him.
'That's what I will remember the most about my son, just his loving, funny spirit,' Navarro said.
The college junior had dreams of playing in the NFL or 'anywhere that would have him' and was studying mass media at Washburn so he could cover football as a reporter if his plans to play professionally didn't pan out.
He was sidelined for the 2016 season and most of the 2017 season due to back-to-back ACL tears but returned to the field last fall.
He told the Topeka Capital-Journal at the time: 'It's more than a game to me now. I came in as a walk-on and had to earn a scholarship, then tore an ACL, redshirted and tore another one.
'It really puts everything in perspective that this game can be taken away from you in a blink of an eye. So I take this game to heart. I get emotional about this stuff and I take this game very, very seriously, and I'm having a great time.'
Relatives described Dwane as 'the life of the party' with an infectious smile who dreamed of playing for the NFL or 'anyone who would take him'
Washburn's head football coach, Craig Schurig, called Dwane's death 'heartbreaking'.
'You've got a young man that's doing everything right, and that's what tragedy is, when things are going really well and something shocking happens,' Schurig said of the defensive back he'd coached since 2015.
'He's got everything geared toward his senior year, he's on pace to graduate and he's a young man that just works his tail off; whether it's coming back from injury our keeping on top of his grades, he worked at it.
'We were riding high from having [Ballentine] get drafted, one of his best friends, and this happening is just hard to put your mind around, hard to wrap yourself around it.'
Schurig called Dwane 'one of the most energetic and well-liked players I have ever coached at Washburn' and said his death has had a profound impact on the entire university community.
'He's got one of those infectious personalities that people are attracted to him and he's charismatic and all that, so he knew a lot of people, not just the athletes,' Schurig said. 'A lot of people were fond of Dwane and everything he's done.'
The coach said he'd gone to the hospital on Sunday to visit Ballentine, who is expected to fully recover after a few weeks.
'I was able to check on him and he looked like he was going to be OK,' Schurig said.
'If there's a silver lining to any of it, it would be that more people weren't injured. It's as tragic as can be, but there could have been more people hurt by this.'
Emergency responders are pictured at the scene of the shooting just after midnight Sunday
Ballentine was taken to hospital and treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound
The Giants took Ballentine in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, 180th overall. He is just the sixth player to be drafted from Washburn's Division II football program.
If Ballentine does sign with the Giants, he could expect to make around $500,000 as a rookie were he to play an entire season.
Washburn was one of the few schools willing to take a chance on Ballentine, who said he was a 'late bloomer' when it came to football and was on an academic scholarship at the university.
But Ballentine caught the attention of the NFL when he was one of only three NCAA Division II players to be selected for the 2019 Senior Bowl.
Hours before he was shot, Ballentine told reporters that being drafted felt 'surreal'.
'I'm sure you've heard it a lot, but this is something I've always dreamed of,' he added. 'It took me back to the moment when I got recruited to college and I told my coaches this is something I wanted to do, I wanted to go to the NFL.'
'Now that the moment is here, I'm trying to soak it in really. I worked so long to prepare for this moment. Now I'm finally getting to figure out my destination.'
Investigators are asking anyone with information to call the Topeka Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400 or Shawnee Co. Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007
Hours before the shooting, Ballentine tweeted that it's 'only up from here' after he was drafted
Ballentine (pictured at the NFL Combine in March) was the 180th pick in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL draft, making him just the sixth player to be drafted from Washburn's DII program
Ballentine caught the attention of the NFL when he was one of only three NCAA Division II players to be selected for the 2019 Senior Bowl
