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Mourners Gather to Honor Slain 7-Year-Old Amari Brown

By Alex Nitkin | July 11, 2015 3:05pm
 Amari Brown, of the 500 block of North Drake Avenue in East Garfield Park, was shot and killed in Humboldt Park last Saturday.
Amari Brown, of the 500 block of North Drake Avenue in East Garfield Park, was shot and killed in Humboldt Park last Saturday.
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DNAinfo/Mauricio Pena

EAST GARFIELD PARK—Hundreds of mourners came together Saturday for the funeral of Amari Brown, the 7-year-old gunned down in Humboldt Park on the Fourth of July.

Mourners lined up outside Vernon Baptist Church on 2622 W Jackson Blvd. The packed church was full of friends, teachers and political leaders.

The crowd included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle lookalikes, in honor of the show friends said the boy loved, according to WBBM News Radio and the Sun-Times.

Brown was reportedly displayed in an open casket, wearing a white suit with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bowtie. 

The service included eulogies from Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), as well as a statement read on behalf of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Brown was shot in the chest last Saturday by a bullet Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said was meant for his father, Antonio Brown, who police have called a "ranking member" of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang.

Community members have offered a combined $6,000 to anyone with information on who was behind the shooting.

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