CHICAGO — Marshall Knights III liked to dabble in a little bit of everything.
He received certificates in carpentry and masonry, loved to work on cars and played nearly every sport he could make time for when he was in high school, according to his mother, LeShun Duke.
“You name it, he played it,” Duke said.
Then, in the afternoon of July 17, the 21-year-old was gunned down in a parking lot in the 7800 block of South Colfax in the South Shore neighborhood far from his home in Dolton, according to medical examiner reports.
Knights was standing on a sidewalk when two men came out of an alley, ran toward him and started firing shots, the Chicago Tribune reported. He was shot in the back and ran a block before collapsing, according to the Tribune.
Duke said her son was not in a gang and simply enjoyed hanging out with his friends. Knights was at one of his friends’ residences when he was shot, his mother said, and Duke doesn’t know what happened or why someone would want to kill her son.
Jovan Jackson, 21, was arrested and charged with Knights' murder in late August, police said.
Knights graduated from Thornridge High School in Dolton and went on to learn carpentry and masonry from Dawson Technical Institute, Duke said.
He also loved to spend time with his younger brother and sister. Knights would often pick his sister up from school, wrestle with his brother, take the kids for treats at candy stores and play video games.
“He was always very respectful, and he always had a big smile on his face,” Duke said.
