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Aspiring Rapper Shot Dead

By Becky Schlikerman | January 8, 2013 12:01am
 Kurtis Stanton, 19, was fatally shot Jan. 17, 2012, in Washington Heights.
Kurtis Stanton, 19, was fatally shot Jan. 17, 2012, in Washington Heights.
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WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Kurtis Stanton had planned to surprise his mom with news that he was going to record his rapping.

But before he was able to share his good fortune, Stanton was shot dead Jan. 17, 2012, in the 1500 block of West 94th Street, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Seven months later, Kelly Stanton has no idea who shot her son or why, and although she’d like some answers, it won’t change the fate of her son.

“It’s not going to bring him back,” she said.

She said her 19-year-old son was visiting a friend in the Washington Heights neighborhood when someone came up behind him and shot him.

She said her son — her only child — was on track to receive his high school diploma from West Town Academy, an alternative school serving older students.

Stanton loved sports, including basketball, and rapping. He planned to record his music professionally, his mother said. She only learned of his higher aspirations after his death, she said.

Kelly Stanton said her son was not in a gang. Court records show no notable criminal activity.

She’s still reminded of him every day when she walks out of her Marquette Park home.

“Some of the young men look like him,” she said.

And she said she’s frightened by the senseless violence.

“When you walk out of your home you don’t know if you’re coming back.”