Northwest High freshman fatally shot at mom’s house had planned out his future

Claude Hodges Jr. had his future all planned out.

The 14-year-old Wichita Northwest High School freshman was going to be a family lawyer. With the money from his career, he would buy a large property where he would build a house for himself and then one for his father and stepmother. He would also buy ATVs so they could ride back and forth between their properties, since his dad, Claude Hodges Sr., would be too old to walk. And, if Dad couldn’t ride his own ATV, then his son would go pick him up on his ATV.

Dad’s only job was to catch fish for dinner.

“He always talked about things you wouldn’t think a 14-year-old would talk about at this time,” said his stepmother, Leonett Hodges.

The blended family didn’t refer to each other as step parents or siblings, but bonus ones.

“How great of a bonus son he was to me,” she said.

The varsity wrestler was found fatally shot early Monday in a bedroom where he lived part of the time with his mother in west Wichita. His mother, 43-year-old Kylee R. Hodges, was wounded after being shot by police, who said she came outside and pointed a gun at them. Kylee Hodges was rushed to surgery and underwent another one Wednesday; doctors are hopeful she will survive, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Police then found the teen inside.

‘It’s just tragic and wrong,” said his stepsister, 27-year-old Diamond Moore, “and it was just so unexpected.”

Moore and her brother, 29-year-old Larenz Moore, and many others called him “Little C.”

Larenz Moore said some of his favorite memories with Claude Hodges Jr. were of him “asking to play basketball nonstop” on a little hoop. He would insist on playing again and again even after losing — it was never a deterrent.

Hodges became a good friend to Moore’s oldest child and like an uncle and protector to his daughters. That made the connection between the two even stronger.

“That was my little brother,” Moore said. “That was my boy. Every time he came to his dad’s he called me and asked if (my) kids could come over or could he come hang out with me and the kids. He was just one of a kind.”

Family, friends and his coach described Claude Hodges Jr. as a jokester, always upbeat, tenacious and able to make friends with anyone. He also liked to watch movies from Marvel Entertainment, DC and Disney.

During summers, he and friends would constantly be found in the neighborhood pool. Hodge would also fish any chance he got.

He had battled his way through injuries this wrestling season and stepped in to fill a void at varsity in the 138-pound weight class.

“He came to practice and worked hard every day. No matter how hard I pushed Claude, he kept coming back. Claude had lots of potential and his skill set grew tenfold over the course of the season,” Northwest wrestling coach Dylan Brazell said.

“Claude’s presence brightened the practice room with his infectious enthusiasm and sense of humor. He always kept the team smiling. I wish we would’ve had more time with Claude to see the great wrestler and person that I knew he was going to become.”

Wrestling was a newer passion for Claude Hodges Jr., driven partly by the blending of families.

He started in high school after graduating from Wilbur Middle School.

“Claude was one of my favorite students all three years he was at Wilbur,” math teacher Angela Lagree said on an online fundraiser. “I am so blessed that I was able to watch him grow through his time there. He gave me so (many) moments to look back on and cherish.”

Growing up

Claude Hodges Jr. had a knack for making friends wherever he went. For several years, he would go with family to watch his nephew, 10-year-old Damani Moore, wrestle at tournaments.

He’d often pop up in the bleachers with the new friends, hoping to have a sleepover.

Moore and Hodges grew close, too.

“He was my uncle but he felt like a brother to me,” Moore said, adding they fought and played “a lot” just like brothers do.

Hodges was also drawn into wrestling because of a longtime friend of his father, Kenny Taylor Jr., the wrestling coach at Southeast High School.

Taylor was known as an uncle to Hodges. His oldest son, 13-year-old Kamarjea Taylor, and Hodges were good friends.

“We were so close that it was like we were cousins,” Kamarjea Taylor said.

Hodges took up wrestling this season.

He battled through knee and shoulder injuries. Brazell said the injuries didn’t hold him back.

In recent weeks, he wrestled on varsity in double duals against South and Southeast.

“I tried not to do too much coaching against him because that’s kind of my nephew,” Taylor said.

Hodges planned to keep wrestling.

Family dynamic

Diamond Moore and Claude Hodges Sr. would often team up to poke fun at Leonett Hodges. In turn, she and Claude Hodges Jr. would team up against his father.

As time went on, Hodges went from a shy and goofy kid to a more outgoing and even goofier kid, Diamond Moore said.

He also grew closer and closer to his stepmother.

“All I can hear him saying right now, to his dad, let’s ask Ms. Leonett,” said Leonett Hodges. “Whatever his dad would tell him, he would always need confirmation from me.”

She added: “Our relationship is like I gave birth to him and I’m not going to be able to hear his voice call my name any more.”

Claude Hodges Jr. was also “an amazing uncle” to her grandchildren, she said.

“He treated them as if they were his biological relatives,” she said. “We don’t use step, we use bonus. So that was their bonus uncle.”

He had non-family members who were uncles too.

Jason Bennet and Brian Martin both grew up with Claude Hodges Sr. and worked security with him for Wichita Public Schools.

“He could hang out with a 10-year-old, or with a 15-year-old or an adult,” said Taylor, who also works security for the district. “He just had that in him, where … you could be having a bad day or a bad moment and he had that ability to turn that frown into a smile.”

He would often go fishing at the pond across the street by himself or with his father. He also started asking questions about salvation.

“The questions he would ask would be, ‘How do I get saved and Daddy I want to be like that,’” Claude Hodges Sr. said.

In fall 2021, Claude Hodges Jr. was baptized at New Hope Baptist Church, where his father is a deacon. Hodges helped with the sound system, took up the offering and was involved with the youth group.

Claude Hodges Sr. got to have his son more in the last year after working out split custody, with him and Claude’s mother having Claude Jr. a week at a time. When she didn’t show up Sunday evening to drop off their son, Claude Hodges Sr. called police to do a welfare check.

That’s what led to Claude Hodges Jr. being found fatally shot.

“As a father, you are given a job, and your job is to protect,” Claude Hodges Sr. said. “I feel I failed my job. It’s something that’s sticking with me now … I’m just angry.”

He added: “He was just an awesome uncle and an even better son.”

A celebration of life is planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at the New Hope Baptist Church, 1001 N. Ohio. A GoFundMe had been set up to help with funeral costs. The fundraiser can be found at shorturl.at/yEPT3

“Claude will be missed,” teammate Max Chapman wrote on the fundraiser’s website. “He was always a kid that was smiling no matter what was going on and he was a good wrestling teammate too. We all love you Claude! Fly high!”