ROSELAND — Every Friday night, Michael Turner went to a Woodlawn pool hall to play the game he loved.
"He would shoot pool, have fun and leave," his brother Justin Turner, 33, said at the family's Roseland home Tuesday. "Whenever he saw a table, he would say, 'I'm just going to go to my car, get my stick and I'll be right back.' "
Michael Turner, 42, was shot to death early Saturday morning in the 700 block of East 67th Street, police said.
He died after another Friday night visit to the pool hall, family said.
Other than that, details are scarce about the death of a man who "had a good heart and loved his family," according to his mother. And several men gathered at the pool hall Tuesday morning declined comment.
"I never thought that my son would leave this world in this manner," said Sarah Turner, who retired in 2004 after 23 years as a Chicago cop. "He was taken by cowards who knew my son stood tall and strong. It was the only way they could have dealt with him."
Turner was found unresponsive in an alley after he was shot multiple times about 1:05 a.m. Saturday, police said.
He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
A graduate of Mendel High School, Turner loved to shoot pool and ride his motorcycle, family said.
He had a customized chopper motorcycle until three years ago, when he got in a crash that totaled it, his mother said.
Until a few years ago, he also ran a landscaping and snow removal company, his mom said.
Turner had four children, including his eldest son, Marquise Day, who is now 23 and a cop in the south suburbs.
"He was a genuine person. He's got a good heart," Day said. "We were always very close and we could talk about everything. He always accepted my views."
Turner's son, brother and mother all visited the morgue Sunday to view and identify his body. They were happy to share that moment together.
"I have comfort in knowing that he had his trademark smile on his face," Sarah Turner said. "When we saw that we knew he was at peace and had made it to the Heavenly Kingdom, away from this Hell on Earth."
