SOUTH SHORE — Demetrius P. Hill Jr. was getting his life together before he was fatally shot early Saturday in South Shore, his family said.
"He was looking for a job and trying go back to school," said his sister, Damika Hill. "Demetrius would also watch my [2-year-old] son while I worked."
Around 1:25 a.m. Saturday, Hill, 19, of the 7100 block of South Constance Avenue, was discovered in a building hallway at 6850 S. Ridgeland Ave. with a gunshot wound to his head, officials said.
Hill was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition but was later pronounced dead, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
Hill's mother Rachel Little, 38, who lives in Georgia, received a call early Saturday morning notifying her that her son had been shot.
"I looked at the phone and saw a Chicago number and was wondering who is calling me so late at night," Little said. "When I answered, detectives were letting me know that my son had been shot."
"I couldn't believe it," added Little, who drove from Georgia to Chicago later Saturday. "He didn't deserve it, he was a good kid."
Hill's mother called his sister, who rushed to the hospital and found he had been shot in his eye. Doctors explained that the the bullet, which was still lodged in his head, had fragmented and that Hill was brain dead.
"When the doctors were explaining everything to me, I couldn't breathe," his sister said. "I felt like I was gone. I was so scared, I felt so alone."
His mother and sister described Hill as a family oriented man, who loved art and the outdoors.
"We moved around a lot, so they got to see a lot of different places," his mother said. "They were always outdoors, and playing sports. Demetrius would swim and play soccer. He loved soccer. He loved being outside."
His sister recalled her brother's affinity for art.
"He was always drawing, and painting," she said.
Little would question her son after he'd show her a new art piece.
"I would always ask him, 'You drew this, or you painted this?' He was really good. He had a bright future," Little said.
His family said they're trying to piece together what led to the 19-year-old's murder.
"We want to know who did this? And why? Who he was with that night?" his 20-year-old sister asked. "If someone saw something, or knows something, we want to know."
For Little, she called for a stop to the violence that claimed the life of her son.
"I don't want him to be just another number," his mother said. "He was more than that, he was a good boy," Little said through tears. "People need to stop killing each other. No one should have to go through this hurt, no one should have to go through this pain."
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