ASHBURN — Months after his son was gunned down at a neighborhood party, Leon Poe Sr. is still looking for answers.
“My son got murdered on the streets of Chicago [and] to this day I have not gotten answers from the Chicago Police Department,” said the older Poe.
On May 11, his son Leon Poe, 28, was shot multiple times and found in an alley in the 3500 block of West 83rd Place, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. He was pronounced dead May 13.
The younger Poe had been at a party in his Ashburn neighborhood when he got into an argument, possibly about the attendance of a party guest who people in the neighborhood suspected had killed one of Poe’s friends, Poe Sr., said.
“They emptied the clip on his back,” Poe Sr. said, adding, “A 28-year-old man should be able to hang out six blocks from home.”
No one has been charged with the murder, according to police data and to Poe Sr.
“Some days it feels like I can’t even breathe,” he said.
Poe Sr., described his son as a hard worker who loved his job as an assistant supervisor at a zinc-product manufacturer on the city’s far South Side.
Poe, who had graduated from Bogan Computer Technical High School and attended technical school, was adept at working with machines and helped keep his family’s home appliances in top working order, Poe Sr., said.
One of four boys, Poe loved to watch sports, but didn’t have a team he always rallied for. Instead, Poe was a realist and liked to support the teams that were doing the best that season, his father said.
“You gotta look at it from reality’ he used to say,” his father said.
Poe Sr., said his son was a “good guy” who didn’t deserve a violent end to his life.
“This is what you call a tragedy,” Poe Sr., said. “This is one of those kids you can’t believe this would have happened to.”
