Chicago Police Believe 9-Year-Old’s Execution-Style Murder Was Gang Related

When James Brown, who was walking nearby, came running over 30 seconds later, all he saw was the boy’s small body lying in a pool of blood, the basketball he always carried lolled on the ground nearby. Family members told the station that Lee brought that basketball everywhere he went.

The boy’s father has not cooperated with police, McCarthy said.

Within hours of the deadly shooting, police indicated Tyshawn may have been targeted, retaliation for his father’s alleged involvement with two recent gang-related killings.

The child’s father, though, says claims that his son was killed in a gang retaliation are untrue.

“I just want to see justice for my son”, Stokes said.

He would say, “Mom, when I get older I’m going to take care of you, I’m going to get you a new house”, Karla Lee recalled to the Chicago Tribune. “It’s crushing me, I can barely breathe at times when I think about it. I start crying and hyperventilating”.

McCarthy did say that they’re getting a lot of leads from the community and they’re close to cracking the case, but they don’t quite have enough evidence to make an arrest, according to the Tribune.

“I’m hoping the people know it don’t sleep until they turn them in, that they don’t have one moment of peace”, Pfleger said.

A “person of interest”, accompanied by attorney Sam Adam Jr., turned himself in for questioning on Wednesday, according to ABC station WLS. No arrests or charges were made against Adam’s client. Anyone with information on the shooting should call Chicago police at 312-747-8271.

“She was calling his name, screaming out, calling for Tyshawn to come to her”, Bertha Lee, Tyshawn’s grandmother, told WLS. This is an innocent child, this is a 9-year-old child, targeted, lured to this spot and murdered. “I don’t know why this happened”. “Why are you anxious about me, not the killer?” “We have gone to a new low that’s removed what used to be some codes, some barriers, some lines that used to be drawn in the community, some things in our city that were not acceptable”. He also expressed frustration with Chicago police, saying investigators seem more interested in him than in finding who fatally shot Tyshawn. Speaking at the press conference Thursday, his tone harsh, he said “A baby was executed”. And proving who did what is where we are right now.

During a vigil Thursday night, relative Vicky G. said she’s trying to forgive the individuals who killed her step-grandson.

“To be honest, I feel bad”, he told the Tribune.