CHICAGO — The family of a suburban man who was kidnapped and tortured hopes to use the more than $150,000 raised for the victim to get therapy and other treatment to help him recover.
Last week, the victim was visiting a man, Jordan Hall, he thought was his friend when a play fight turned real, prosecutors said. Hall and three others — Tesfaye Cooper and sisters Brittany Covington and Tanishia Covington — tied up the victim and abused him, slashing his clothes with a knife, hitting him and making the man drink water from a toilet, among other things, prosecutors said.
The man was abused for four to five hours, police said, and portions of the incident were streamed on Facebook. Police said the man eventually escaped and was found wandering outside, bloody and battered, on the West Side.
Shortly after the man's story made national headlines, a GoFundMe campaign was launched to help him and his family. The campaign's goal was to raise $10,000 to "show this young man and his family some financial support during this difficult time of recovery," organizer Razor Sheldon wrote on the GoFundMe.
By Wednesday afternoon more than $156,000 had been raised to help the man.
Neil Strom, a spokesman for the victim's family, said he is confident the money will be used to help the victim recover. Strom has directed the victim's family toward counseling and therapy resources that can help him, he said.
“They’re going to put it to good use by providing resources to the young man to hopefully get care and treatment as a result of this unspeakable act,” Strom said. “The overwhelming amount of generosity is just amazing, and I am confident it will go exclusively toward the well-being of the young man.”
The family doesn't know Sheldon, Strom said, but they've spoken with the organizer since he set up the GoFundMe campaign.
“We just want to thank everyone’s that reached out,” Strom said. “We’re overwhelmed by the prayers and the well-wishers and appreciate the fact that people have thought of us and done such a wonderful thing for such a horrific event.”
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