Brother remembers slain veteran in Planned Parenthood shooting

As the family of Ke’Arre Stewart gathers to remember him, one of the men who knew him best – his younger brother – is grappling to understand why.

“I don’t understand how a soldier can go to war, in that brigade, that battalion, come back, survive that war in one piece with all your limbs, then you come here to be murdererd by someone you never met? That you’ve never done anything to?” says Leyonte Chandler, Ke’Arre Stewart’s brother.

It’s one of the many mysteries surrounding the shooting at Planned Parenthood last Friday. Three people were killed, including Ke’Arre Stewart, Jennifer Markovsky, and Garrett Swasey.

Robert Dear is the suspected gunman. He is being held on suspicion of first degree murder, and is due to be formally charged December 9th.

Stewart was an Iraq war veteran, and soon-to-be father of three.

Chandler tells KRDO NewsChannel 13, Stewart was likely one of the first shot. Stewart was there with his girlfriend, confirming she was pregnant with Stewart’s third child. He stepped outside, and shots started. He then ran inside to warn others.

“After being shot, he tried to call 911 while he was in the hallway,” says Chandler, tears in his eyes.

Stewart’s protective instincts were part of his nature, according to his brother.

“To know that was in his heart, not just for me, but for people he didn’t know. People that he never met. He had the same love for them, the same care for them,” says Chandler. “I know he can’t come back, but you want just one last opportunity. To say what you didn’t get to say, but that opportunity is gone,” says Chandler.

“The real tragedy is what was done. Because if you change the motive, the tragedy still exists.”