ENGLEWOOD — Lorenzo Wiley was shooting dice on the sidewalk at 62nd and Laflin streets on Aug. 15 when someone shot the 21 year old multiple times and left him to die on the street, his family and authorities said.
His mother believes the shooter wanted to rob her son.
“People's jealous,” Lucinda Wiley said as she waited to get into a limo that would take her to her to her son’s funeral, held 12 days after his murder. “He jumped up and tried to run and couldn’t run.”
Wiley suffered multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“My baby wasn’t no gangbanger, he was out shooting dice,” she said.
Her family isn’t involved in gangs, though they consider themselves part of a crew called the Jackboys, she said.
Wiley had been charged with two misdemeanors in Cook County, but had no convictions, records show.
Police said Lorenzo Wiley was discovered on the street with multiple gunshot wounds. Police are investigating and one has been charged.
“My son was a cool person,” Lucida Wiley said. “He liked to smile and play jokes on people.”
He was the father of two girls — aged two and five — and had been with the girl’s mother since high school.
As the family waited to leave for the funeral, one of the daughters wore a white dress that said “RIP daddy.” A nephew wore a shirt that said “RIP uncle main man.” Lucinda Wiley’s shirt had a photo of her son and words that said “Rest in peace my son; Gone but never forgotten.”
