KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Family and loved ones shared memories of Michael DeHaan, the victim of an Aug. 21 murder at a BP gas station in Kansas City, Missouri.

Tammy Housh-DeHann

DeHaan, 33, was at the gas station with his girlfriend, Samantha Dunnavent, getting gas when she said DeHaan was attacked by a man.

Dunnavent was driving in another vehicle because the couple had moved, she said.

“I said to the guy, ‘No, you’re not going to steal his car,'” Dunnavent said.

Brian Luton/KSHB 41

The man accused of killing DeHann, Lorenzo C. Johnson, faces charges in Jackson County court of second-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, first-degree robbery, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.

Dunnavent said DeHaan left his keys in the car, which he doesn’t normally do.

“He (Johnson) jumps into Mike’s driver’s seat and closes the door,” Dunnavent said.

DeHaan struggled with Johnson to get him out of his car before the incident turned fatal.

“He gets out and shoots him,” Dunnavent said. “And I started screaming and telling my son to get on the ground. And I ran around the van and told someone to call 911.”

Dunnavent’s nine-year-old son was with her, but she says she got out of her car to check on DeHaan after Johnson drove away.

“I just cried, held him, told him to hold on, that I loved him and to just stay strong,” Dunnavent said.

She had to stay at the scene to give her statement to detectives, but learned later that night that DeHaan had died in the hospital.

“I just fell to my knees because he is my everything,” Dunnavent said. “He has been my everything for four years.”

DeHaan’s mother, Tammy, says her son has been her everything his entire life.

Tammy Housh-DeHaan

“The pain of losing a child is enormous,” said DeHaan’s mother. “I can’t tell you how devastating this is.”

She says her son was the youngest of three boys and had an unforgettable personality.

“He was an amazing human being, inside and out,” DeHaan said. “Michael had a spark. In all the pictures that people sent, he was just so full of life.”

Tammy Housh-DeHaan

His death occurred just days after she moved into a new apartment.

Now she has to unpack items that have a whole new meaning.

Brian Luton/KSHB 41

“Every box I unpack has Michael in it,” DeHaan said. “Trying to get my life back on track without Michael has been very difficult.”

She says she is most worried about his daughter, who turns 12 this year.

So she packs up some of his favorite things and puts them in a chest for his daughter.

Brian Luton/KSHB 41

“It’s all about him here,” she said.

The worst part, she and Dunnavent said, was how much his death could have been prevented.

“I want people to remember that it’s not just about the person they’re targeting, but also their entire family or friends,” Dunnavent said.

According to KCPD data, almost all murders in Kansas City, Missouri this year were committed with a firearm.

“You wonder what he was going through when he saw the gun pointed at him when he gave him the car,” DeHaan said. “It would be different if it hadn’t been like that. He was just getting gas.”

DeHaan says it’s a relief that Johnson was caught and charged so he can’t harm others. She’s even started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for funeral expenses and for his daughter.

Yet there is a hole in her heart as big as Michael.

“This person doesn’t know what he took,” DeHaan said. “Nothing will bring my son back, and that’s the worst part.”