AVALON PARK — Brenda Williams said she spent Monday at Stroger Hospital, watching her oldest son cling to life after he was shot in the back of the head.
Police found her son, Brandon Williams, in the 8000 block of South Woodlawn Avenue Sunday night. Williams was in a car about 11:05 p.m. when two men walked up and shot him, police said.
Williams was rushed to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Tuesday morning, Brenda Williams stood outside her mother's home, just a few blocks from where her son was shot. Williams said she was waiting to hear from police.
"I just don't understand why ... why someone would want to hurt him. I don't understand," Williams said, her voice trembling. "I'm gonna try to find out why."
Brandon "BJ" Williams is the third person in Avalon Park to die from a bullet in less than a month.
Dwan Long, 35, was killed Aug. 28 while he was visiting friends on his way home from work, and 17-year-old Anthony Dickerson was killed less than 24 hours later just two blocks from where Long was killed.
Neighbors said Long and Anthony were both unintended targets caught up in a dispute between two groups of people in the area.
A friend of Williams, who declined to be named, said Tuesday he did not believe his friend's murder was related to the earlier bloodshed. Instead, he said Williams was killed because the two gunmen wanted to take his marijuana.
"This was a petty robbery. A real, real petty robbery, and the man lost his life," the man said.
He said Williams wasn't a big-time gangbanger or drug dealer but would sell marijuana every now and then to make money.
Police could not confirm any details of a robbery and had not been officially notified of Williams' death as of noon Tuesday.
Neighbors said they had never known Williams to be "out on the street" and described him as a quiet, shy person.
Brenda Williams said her son was the oldest of her three children. She said the 31-year-old was married with a 7-year-old son, also named Brandon.
"He loved to help people," she said. "He loved his family. He loved his son. His son was everything."
No one was in custody in connection with the shooting as of noon Tuesday, police said.
