CINCINNATI — Rolling up in the cars he built a community around, dozens honored John Blanks III on Saturday evening, known to his family as JB.
The tribute was held on Elm Street, between The Andrew J. Brady Center and Paycor Stadium — the spot where he died less than 24 hours earlier.
Cincinnati police said the 29-year-old was shot multiple times Friday around 10:45 p.m. CFD said first responders tried life-saving measures, but Blanks died at the scene.
JB leaves behind four young children.
“He loved his kids,” said his mother, Crystal Kirkendall. “He was always acting silly and dancing, just happy.”
As far as the family knows, nobody is in custody for what happened. Kirkendall is pleading with people to come forward.
“It’s very hard, but somebody knows what happened out there,” she said. “I want to know who took my son away from us, and I hope somebody out there [will] speak out.”
JB’s aunt, Ann Wilkins, held back tears as she described how much she’ll miss him: “I’m gonna miss that smile, and I’m gonna miss him helping everybody.”
“If you needed a ride, if you needed something, he did the best to make sure you had it, whether he didn’t have it for himself,” she said.
Amid the mourning, the group of several dozen recounted happy memories; laughing at a reference to “Joker," a character they said JB loved.
“He has the blanket, he has the shirts, he has the pillows, he has the ringtone,” his aunt said with a smile. “When you say Joker, everybody knows they’re talking about JB.”
As balloons the color of joker-green and his favorite red were lifted into the air, a rainbow emerged soon after. To the awe of the crowd, the family took it as a sign that JB is with them.
“One love!” they shouted. “We love you JB!”
