KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mother of a Blue Springs, Missouri man said the violence in Kansas City has to stop. Her son, Quintin Dewberry was killed last week near East 49th Street and Agnes Avenue.

Melinda Mueller said Dewberry had a hard life and made some poor choices. However, she said it doesn’t mean he deserved to die, nor do the dozens who are killed in the city each year.

What is a life in Kansas City worth? For Muller, her son’s life was worth more than he was killed for.

“This gun violence is absolutely crazy,” Mueller said.

Dewberry, 26, died Wednesday, May 18, when he was shot and killed no where near his home. His mother said it was over a $100 debt.

“All of his friends and all of his family. We’re going to have to pay the price for life now because he didn’t have $100 bucks,” Mueller said.

Dewberry is the 61st homicide in Kansas City this year. Mueller says her son’s life wasn’t easy from the time he was a child, and fell into bad habits. He spent most of his adult life incarcerated but when he got out in September she hoped things would be different.

“Never will have any kids. Never will get married. Never have any of that,” Mueller said.

His friends Dustin Baugher and Mariah Huggins said it was hard to watch him fall back into old habits.

“Those decisions, and those choices and those addictions. They are a crutch at one point and a scar at another. They’re easy to open up again,” Baugher said.

“What if it was someone you loved? What if it was them? Because it very well could be. It could be,” Huggins said.

They hope someone will come forward with information to bring his killer to justice. They said Dewberry’s mother deserves some peace.

“You’re so much smarter than this and you had so much more potential,” Baugher said.

“Even though my son is not here I know his purpose is bigger than this. I will go on and everyone around him will go on. He’ll be remembered,” Mueller said.

His mother says she had life insurance on her son for years, but recently lost her coverage. Now she’s working to find a way to pay for his funeral. If you would like to help this family a Gofundme page is set up to help pay for the cost.