In 2020, the world fell apart over rising racial and political tensions. Now in 2021, those issues as well as others like gay rights continue to plague the US. The LGBTQ community has scored some wins but they’re still subjected to hate crimes.
Former X-Factor contestant Deangelo Wallace was murdered outside a police station in downtown Kansas City. In the wake of his death, his family has come forth with details surrounding his death in hopes of bringing the killer to justice, claiming he was targeted for being gay. However authorities found no motives for Wallace’s murder.
On July 5th, the X-Factor contestant was found dead outside the Kansas City Police Department. Authorities believe Wallace was killed at 12th and Locust between City Hall, the courthouse and Kansas City Police Headquarters at 12:30am on Monday. His case comes right at the end of Pride Month and leaves members of the LGBTQ grieving over his death.
On Wednesday (July 7), Wallace’s mother and sister have come forth to demand justice and address his heinous murder, describing it as a “hate crime in a press conference. In doing so, Wallace’s sister Shauntice shared fond memories of her brother singing “Happy Birthday” to her and his dreams of being an entertainer. Though, she also disclosed some disturbing instances that lead up to his murder.
According to the sister, Wallace lived in and out of homeless shelters. Even worse, he would often receive death threats from unidentified persons living in downtown Kansas City. Deangelo also had rocks thrown at him by the homeless that lived in the central area. The 28-year-old had been targeted from the start.
However, police have dismissed Wallace’s family’s claims of a hate crime and somehow ruled it down to a simple argument that turned violent. Authorities supposedly held a suspected person in custody but shortly after, they were released. Now Wallace’s case has been turned over to prosecutors.
The LGBTQ Commission vice chair Justice Horn disagreed wholeheartedly with the police’s reports. He demanded that they be more vigilant of crimes against LGBTQ persons.
Wallace’s untimely death was unfortunate. The Kansas native led a difficult life but had dreams of making it into the entertainment business. Back in 2012, Wallace auditioned for Fox’s X-Factor.
However, the aspiring star blew his shot at stardom with his less than favorable attitude. Prior to his audition, Wallace spoke negatively about the judges, calling Demi Lovato a “Disney Princess” and L.A Reid “Mr. Shiny Head.” He also boasted about his singing abilities, bragging that he could sing better than Britney Spears and Justin Bieber. Even his audition turned off audiences and the judges.
Wallace had opted to sing Chris Brown’s “With You”, though the judges weren’t impressed by his rendition of the song. Done with the contestant, the four judges eventually walked off the stage. While Wallace continued his performance, L.A Reid said that Wallace treated his audition like “a big joke.” Unfortunately, the drama with Wallace was far from being over.
After his audition, he offered his thoughts to the camera crew backstage on the judges walking out. “They worship the devil,” the X-Factor contestant told the crewmen. Obviously, having a flare for the dramatic, Wallace ran out of the studio with the show’s $3,000 dollar microphones. However, Wallace and his cousin didn’t get far with the stolen equipment. The camera crew eventually caught up with them and questioned Wallace about stealing the microphone.
Clearly, having felt “slighted” by the judges walking off, Wallace admitted that he acted out of a sense of revenge. “Y’all wasn’t going to let me through, so I was gonna keep y’alls equipment,” he answered honestly. Things only worsened for Wallace when the police showed up and arrested him. He was charged with a misdemeanor but luckily made bail only hours later.
Deangelo Wallace may have been let off easy then. It's unfortunate that years later, however, an entirely different story would play out for the aspiring singer.