Daniel DeHaan chuckles when he remembers childhood moments with his brother Michael DeHaan, who fell from love when he was fatally shot during a stolen car at a Kansas City gas station in August.
His favorite memories from last year are like a scene from the comedy movie “Step Brothers,” said Daniel DeHaan.
So it’s like this: both of them are the same size, Daniel takes the jeans that belong to Michael, which he doesn’t want him to wear. They were out in the yard wrestling over jeans.
“My mom came home, and my sister and I were playing around in the front yard, she was trying to pull my pants off,” Daniel DeHaan said. “They want it back, and I’m not giving it back.”
It was a memory that provided a moment of respite from the pain of the past few weeks.
“It’s still a bad dream for me,” he said, in the present day, his sister’s name is now remembered in a tattoo on his right arm. “I’m still waiting to wake up from that. But the truth is, I know I’m not.”
In the shooting
Michael DeHaan, 33, was fatally shot when someone approached him at a BP gas station at the intersection of Linwood Boulevard and Indiana Avenue in Kansas City on August 21, according to court documents.
DeHaan was pumping gas before the alleged shooter, who authorities have identified as Lorenzo Johnson, fired at the man as DeHaan backed up, stole a car, ran over DeHaan’s body and later that day led law enforcement on a chase before being arrested, police said.
“The way it was taken was the most painful,” said his mother, Tammy DeHaan. “We will never see that smile again. Something that shouldn’t be.
Prosecutors charged Johnson with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, resisting arrest and three counts of armed criminal action in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Johnson made an initial appearance in court Thursday and was referred to a public defender. He is being held without bond. The next hearing is scheduled for September 25.
“There’s no point in doing what you’re doing,” Daniel DeHaan said of Johnson. “Not only do you take people’s lives, you take sons, brothers, fathers, uncles.”
‘Just a good man’
His loved ones have only memories of Michael DeHaan’s kindness, how he watched over his mother, his sense of humor, his intelligence, his generosity. DeHaan’s 11-year-old daughter is now fatherless.
He always has a pair of gym shorts, is practical and likes to work on the vehicle. He chose the color blue. He would take out the trash and clear the snow for his neighbors.
“When you need him, he’s always there,” said Megan DeHaan, Daniel DeHaan’s wife. “You can call him and he’ll be there, figure out a way to get there or find out.”
Despite his childhood, Michael DeHaan had a heart to help.
Reflecting on her cousin’s life, Rachel Conner tells how, when she was young, she helped another family member by moving out of an apartment with triple-digit temperatures, with no air conditioning.
“The boy worked for eight hours in 100 degree heat helping him clean this apartment and move things,” he said. “I don’t know many 13-year-olds who would do that. They would do it for anybody.
Even in death, Michael DeHaan has something to give. His mother learned that her son had re-registered as an organ donor earlier this year, and she went ahead with his wish.
“He was just a good guy,” said Conner, who is managing a GoFundMe page to raise money for Michael’s family.
“He was a person who liked everyone, never met a stranger,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from or your background or your color, that kid doesn’t care. If you are a good person, they can read about you and everything they need to know.
As kids, the DeHaan brothers would battle over Pokémon cards. They are pranksters and goofballs.
One day, they decided to sled down the roof together. Indeed, no one came unharmed. Both of them were smiling in the moment after the rush. His mother was caught escaping, and the brothers lost their toboggan for the rest of the season.
“He and I always hit things off,” Daniel DeHaan said.
They were close as children, then their lives took separate paths.
Recently, Daniel DeHaan sent a friend request to his brother on Facebook. He knew his brother wouldn’t respond now. It’s the kind of little things that seem big in moments like this.
“What’s the most deadly thing about all of this,” said Daniel DeHaan, pausing to pull out his phone and look at the pending request, “…is knowing that it’s not going to be answered.”
