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Jesse White Tumbler Killed in Old Town Was 'Bright Star,' White Says

By Mina Bloom | September 19, 2014 7:00am | Updated on September 19, 2014 2:37pm
  Devonshay Lofton, 16, who performed with the Jesse White Tumblers, was shot and killed in Old Town Thursday night.
Devonshay Lofton
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OLD TOWN — Instead of celebrating the opening of the long-awaited Jesse White Field House Friday, members of the internationally recognized Jesse White Tumbling Team were in mourning.

Around 9 p.m. Thursday, 16-year-old Devonshay Lofton, a tumbler for seven years, was shot and killed.

He was standing on the sidewalk in the 1300 block of North Cleveland Avenue when two men riding bikes opened fire, striking him in his left shoulder, according to Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.

"If I could put [Devonshay] on the Xerox machine and make 10,000 copies, the world would be a better place," said Secretary of State Jesse White, who founded the tumbling team.

White, who described Devonshay as a "bright star" and a "positive force," said the boy was close to becoming one of the better tumblers on the team. 

"I know for a fact that he was not involved in gangs," said White, who went on to call the teen a gentleman in every way. "I'm almost certain they shot the wrong kid."

Javonn Harris, 16, stood on the block where Devonshay was killed with tears streaming down her face Friday, saying she hung out with him every day at Lincoln Park High School.

"He was everything to me," she said

Javonn was one of several close friends of Devonshay who gathered on the block to mourn him.

Devonshay was walking his girlfriend home to the other side of an Old Town housing project when he was gunned down Thursday evening, according to family friend Carlisle Lopez, who said he helped raise the teen.

Diane Harris, Javonn's 19-year-old sister, said she was getting in the shower when she heard gunshots, looked out her window and saw people running. She and Javonn came out to see what had happened and found their friend dead on the pavement. 

Estrada said Devonshay was initially taken in critical condition to Northwestern Hospital. Devonshay, of the 1300 block of North Hudson Avenue, was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9:22 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

One of the police officers who was called to the scene was getting out of his car when he accidentally shot himself in the foot, Estrada said.

The officer is in good condition after being transported to Northwestern Hospital, he added.

In addition to tumbling, Devonshay, who was known as "Tim Tim" to those in the neighborhood, liked to play basketball and listen to music — "anything he could dance to," Diane Harris said.

"He always smiled," Diane Harris said while holding her sister in front of two poster boards with countless handwritten messages to Devonshay on them. "All I can remember is him smiling."

Lopez, 37, said there are rival gangs on either side of the housing project, but he said Devonshay was not involved and did not have a gun.

"Fighting? Yeah. Gun sh**? Hell no," Lopez said of the boy, who he said was practically his son.

Brittany Johnson, 26, has lived in the neighborhood her entire life and has known the Lofton family for many years.

"He was just like any other kid," Johnson said, adding that he had five siblings.

Johnson said Devonshay's mother "would do anything for her kids. Her kids are her life. I know she's very distraught." 

Despite the violence in the neighborhood, which Johnson and Lopez agreed has been going on for years, Johnson said Old Town has a lot to offer. 

"Our kids love it here," said Johnson. "The schools, doctors, grocery stores, everything is convenient here. We don't want to move." 

Darnell Turner, a 30-year-old security guard who patrols the area, was wearing his bulletproof vest Friday morning even though he wasn't on duty. 

He said he wears the vest when he's not working for fear of getting shot in both his neighborhood of South Shore and the neighborhoods he patrols.

Turner said he got off work a couple of hours before the teen was shot so he didn't see what happened, but he said kids like Devonshay often fight with each other at school, which can sometimes lead to an incident like this.

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