KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland and also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Fernanda heard the story of Dakota Rogers during our Let’s Talk series in Liberty. Share your story idea with Fernanda by emailing her.
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Three years after losing her 18-year-old son, Dakota Rogers, to gun violence, Stacy Rogers is channeling her grief into creating something meaningful in his memory.
KSHB 41 Northland reporter Fernanda Silva followed up a week before the third anniversary of Dakota's passing.
His mom remembers Oct. 16, 2022, like it was yesterday.
“That night destroyed my life,” said Stacy Rogers. “I became still. I froze, and I’ve been frozen for three years since.”
Despite the pain, she can’t help but smile every time she talks about him.
“He was a shining star. He loved everybody. No judgments. Full of life,” Stacy said.
In 2022, Clay County prosecutors charged twin brothers Isaac Hernandez and Isaiah Hernandez in the shooting that killed Dakota Rogers.
Isaiah will be sentenced on Oct. 17 after pleading guilty in July of this year to second-degree murder and first-degree assault.
Isaac pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon in April of last year. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14.
Stacy says she will always fight for justice.
“I’m healing, but I’ll never fully be healed,” she said.
As part of the process of finding peace, she wants to honor her son.
“The more I can keep Dakota alive in spirit, the better it feels,” she said.
It’s a wild idea — just like she says he was.
“You’re trying to incorporate a lot of different things into a park that you call a dog park,” she said. “We want everybody, and that’s truly what we want. It’s an everybody kind of park.”
Her friend, Tracy Spisak-Vitamvas, is helping Stacy bring that idea to life.
“It’s fluid. There are lots of moving parts to it,” Tracy said.
They don’t have a location or the funds yet, but they have the concept, describing the park as pet-friendly and mental wellness inclusive.
The park concept has special significance because of another victim of the shooting.
“Part of the tragedy in this story is that there’s a survivor. In the shooting that took Dakota’s life, that young man is in a wheelchair,” Tracy said.
“It has to be for everybody,” Stacy said.
Their hope is to help others while learning to cope.
“He was truly a light to the world,” Stacy said.
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