Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Chicago Violence: 'Joyful' 11-Year-Old Girl Shot Dead; Rahm Visits Family

By Mina Bloom | July 19, 2014 9:34am | Updated on July 19, 2014 10:36pm
 Police are investigating the murder of an 11-year-old girl in Garfield Park. (file photo)
Police are investigating the murder of an 11-year-old girl in Garfield Park. (file photo)
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Quinn Ford

CHICAGO — An 11-year-old girl who was inside a home on a sleepover when a wayward bullet entered the house and struck her in the head died Saturday morning, a victim of gun violence that has seen nearly two dozen people shot this weekend, police said.

The girl, identified as Shamiya Adams, was shot in the Garfield Park neighborhood and died at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

The girl, who had been previously been reported as being ten, was 11, according to Officer Jose Estrada, a police spokesman.

In all, across the city, those shot included a 12-year-old girl in the East Garfield Park neighborhood who was taken to Stroger Hospital in stable condition Saturday with a foot wound. A 30-year-old man was shot and killed in Austin at 3 a.m. Saturday and there were reports of five more being shot in that neighborhood Saturday night, including one fatally.

The 11-year-old girl was shot around 9:35 p.m. in the 3900 block of West Gladys Avenue in Garfield Park. She suffered a gun shot wound to her head, police said.

Adams was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition. According to WGN-TV, the girl was at a sleepover and she and her friends were in a room pretending to be sitting around a campfire and eating s'mores when the bullet entered the home through a first floor window and struck her in her head.

In the neighborhood, friends and family tearfully recalled what one neighbor described as "a joyful, innocent child."

"It's ridiculous. It really, really needs to stop," the girl's grandmother, Nanette Dailey, told reporters.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel became choked up when talking of the girl's death at an unrelated public event. "Every child deserves a childhood," Emanuel said.

Emanuel visted family members of the girl Saturday, according to an aunt, Tierra Goodlow. "I think that was great for him to come," the aunt told Fox 32,"but lets get with the people out here doing this bad stuff on the street." 

She added, "Kids can't even play safe these days."

The mother of the girl attened a rally Saturday evening in the neighborhood, her head held low as various people called for the end of gun violence in the city. "It's devastating," the Rev. George Daniels, pastor of the First Baptist Congressional Church of Chicago told reporters at the vigil.

In another case involving a child on Friday, three people were wounded about 3:30 p.m. in the 700 block of North Ridgeway Avenue in East Garfield Park.

Two people suffered graze wounds. One girl, 12, was injured in the foot, and a male, 44, was grazed on the calf. Another female, 32, was shot in the right eye, police said.

The male was treated on the scene, while the 12-year-old girl and 32-year-old woman were taken to Stroger Hospital in stable condition, police said. 

In other shootings: 

Saturday

•  Earlier Saturday morning, a 35-year-old man was wounded in a shooting in Englewood. The man was sitting on the sidewalk at 72nd Street and Emerald Avenue when a dark-colored car drove by and someone from within the car fired shots striking the man in his leg, said Officer Jose Estrada, a police spokesman. 

The man was transported to Stroger Hospital where he is in stable condition, Estrada said.

• Earlier, a 15-year-old boy was shot in Englewood, authorities said.

Around 12:50 a.m., the boy was in a parked car in the 7000 block of South Winchester Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him in his arm, Estrada said. He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital where he is in stable condition.

The boy was a documented gang member, and the shooting may have been gang-related, Estrada said.

• In North Lawndale about 30 minutes earlier, a man, 19, was discovered by police on the 1200 block South Christiana Avenue with gun shot wounds in his back and foot, Estrada said.

The man is in serious condition after being taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, Estrada said. 

Police said the shooting may have been gang-related, as the vicitm is a documented gang member. 

• Two men were shot in a possible gang-related shooting in Greater Grand Crossing at 12:10 a.m., according to police.

One man, 24, and another man, 33, were walking in the 500 block of East 71st Street when they "heard shots and felt pain," Estrada said.

Both are in stable condition; the 24-year-old was taken to Stroger Hospital, while the 33-year-old was taken to University of Chicago Hospital, Estrada said.

Friday

• Around 11:30 p.m., four men, ages 27, 33, 31, 30, were shot in Austin.

The men were standing on the corner in the 1300 block of North Mason Avenue when they "heard shots and felt pain," Estrada said.

All of them transported themselves to the hospital. The 27-year-old, who suffered from gun shot wounds in his arm, and the 33-year-old, who sufffered from gun shot wounds in his foot and knee, both took themselves to South Suburban Hospital where they are in stable condition, Estrada said.

The 31-year-old is in stable condition at Stroger Hospital after being shot in his arm, and the 30-year-old is in stable condition at Oak Park Hospital after being shot in his foot.

All of the victims are documented gang members, Estrada said.

• Around the same time three men, including one 15-year-old boy, were shot in the 4000 block of West West End Avenue in Austin. 

The boy, along with a 22-year-old man and 33-year-old man, were standing on a corner when a light-colored car pulled up and someone fired shots, striking the 15-year-old in his leg and the 22-year-old in his knee, Estrada said.

The 33-year-old suffered from graze wounds to his ankle and did not go to the hospital, while the 15-year-old and 22-year-old were transported to Mt. Sinai where they are both in stable condition, Estrada said.

Two of the three victims are documented gang members, Estrada said.

• Ten minutes earlier, a 25-year-old man was shot in the ankle on the West Side, according to authorities.

The man was on the porch in the 5400 block of West Haddon Avenue when two men approached him on foot and opened fire, Estrada said.

After being taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, the man, who is a documented gang member, is in stable condition, Estrada said. 

• Around 11:05 p.m., a 38-year-old man sustained a gun shot wound in his face in Greater Grand Crossing. 

The man, who is a documented gang member, was in a car in the 7600 block of South Drexel Avenue when the shooter opened fire from an alley, striking him in his right eye, Estrada said. 

He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center where he is in stable condition, police said.

• Fifteen minutes earlier, a 26-year-old was standing in the 2000 block of North Lamon Avenue when a man pulled up in a silver BMW. The two exchanged words before the man got out of the car and started shooting, striking the 26-year-old in his stomach and his leg, Estrada said.

The shooter got in his car and fled the scene, Estrada said. The victim, who is a documented gang member, was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital where he is in serious condition. 

• Around 10:30 p.m., a 15-year-old boy was shot in West Pullman.

The boy was sitting in front of a residence in the 11800 block of South Yale Avenue when someone approached on foot and fired shots, striking him in his arm and foot, Estrada said.

After being taken to Roseland Community Hospital, the boy, who is a documented gang member, is in stable condition, according to police.

Earlier Friday afternoon, a 17-year-old boy was shot in Back of the Yards and a 33-year-old man was shot in Logan Square.

 

 

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: