SOUTH SHORE — Sonia Burke was walking to Jewel with her boyfriend when she was shot to death, her sister said.
“I guess some guy had been following them. Next thing they know they start shooting, “ the sister, Katrina Hawkins, said. “The bf got hit one time and she caught the rest of the bullets.”
Burke, 26, was pronounced dead March 27 hours after she was shot multiple times while in the 1400 block of East 75th Street in South Shore, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The mother of three — with a new baby she was caring for — wanted to become a nurse, her sister said.
Burke, of the 11000 block of South Bell Avenue, and her five siblings grew up as state wards after their mother couldn’t care for them, Hawkins said.
That had led Burke to be timid, though she was “very sweet,” her sister said.
“She was more of a person [who] didn’t speak up for herself,” Hawkins said.
Burke’s main focus was her three boys. She took them to museums and parks around the city.
“Mainly her goal was to be a good mom for her kids,” Hawkins said. “She was very active with her kids.”
Hawkins doesn’t believe the shots were meant for her sister, a graduate of Thornwood High School in South Holland.
“She ended up being there at the wrong time.”
