AUBURN GRESHAM — The day Kashe Jaranilla lost her boyfriend, and part of her face, started like any other Saturday.
The couple packed up their kids, ages 7 years old and 9 months old, and spent the morning running errands. The family had just grabbed lunch when they parked near their Auburn Gresham home about 3 p.m. Feb. 27, 2016.
"We were talking and laughing," Jaranilla said, "and all of a sudden, I saw someone pop out of the alley right next to our door. He just started shooting. ... It happened so fast. I just saw blood, and the bullets kept coming and coming and coming. They didn't stop."
Eric Henry, 26, was shot 13 times in his head and upper body, prosecutors said. He died on the scene.
One bullet tore through Jaranilla's jaw, sending a torrent of hot blood down her body.
Even though the shooting happened during the day, progress in the police investigation was slow, Jaranilla said. As months went by, she grew so frustrated with the pace — and the lack of cooperation in her neighborhood — that she canvassed homes herself in an effort to seek justice.
Now, prosecutors credit Jaranilla's persistence with leading to an arrest in the case just last month — more than a year after Henry died.
"I was like, you know what, let me go out here and do something," Jaranilla, 25, said. "My kids could've died. Their father did pass away. I have to get justice for all of us."
Accused gunman Demetrius Gaddis, 22, was indicted last week on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm. Bail was denied.
Road to recovery
As bullets began whipping through her car that February afternoon, Jaranilla instinctively jumped to the backseat to shield her children — only to be shot again, this time in her buttocks.
Then she looked toward boyfriend Eric Henry.
"I believe he took his last breath in front of my face," Jaranilla said. "I saw blood gurgling from his mouth, and his eyes were closing. I couldn't scream [because of my jaw injuries]. I couldn't talk. My kids were screaming. I was blessed they were not hit. But I just kept looking at Eric."
Kashe Jaranilla was hospitalized after she was shot in her jaw. [Provided]
Jaranilla would spend the next few weeks in a hospital, where she required multiple reconstructive surgeries. She couldn't immediately see her children, who'd been whisked from the scene by neighbors.
In the months that followed, Jaranilla's jaw didn't heal properly. She now requires surgery that would remove bone from her hip and use it to reconstruct her jaw. Her teeth also need to be re-done, she said. But after several wrangles with her health-insurance company, Jaranilla still doesn't know whether the procedures will be covered.
A bullet remains lodged in her finger. A tracheotomy scar is a daily reminder of what happened.
'Help me get justice'
By spring 2016, Jaranilla — a college student who works in retail — had grown frustrated with how slowly the Chicago Police Department's investigation into Henry's slaying was moving. The detectives worked hard, Jaranilla said, but no one in the neighborhood would talk.
Someone "knew who did it," Jaranilla insisted. "They're probably friends with the guy, nine times out of 10. A lot of people out there knew. And I believe a lot of people actually saw [Gaddis] run to the car and escape" after the shooting, which happened in the 900 block of West 85th Street.
So Jaranilla hopped on a computer and began making flyers.
The first round asked "those who have a heart" to contact police. Jaranilla, who has since moved out of Chicago, slid flyers under doors and tacked them to car windows. She said she moved fast and was only out in daylight hours.
But weeks went by, she said, and police still had no new leads.
So Jaranilla included her phone number and a personal plea on the next batch: "I asked, 'Could you please help me get justice? We didn't deserve this. Now I'm a single mother. ... I can't eat. I can't sleep.'"
Before long, Jaranilla said, an anonymous texter sent her a screenshot of Gaddis' Facebook page and asked if he was the killer.
"I couldn't catch my breath," Jaranilla said, "I was like, 'That's him.'"
'Why?'
Jaranilla's persistence, prosecutors said, led to an arrest in the case.
Detectives used the Facebook page to find Gaddis, who was arrested last month after a lengthy police investigation, Assistant State's Attorney Sheila York said in court. A witness identified Gaddis as the shooter in both a photo array and live line-up.
No motive has been offered in the case, and Jaranilla still doesn't know why Henry was killed.
"I'm going to forever have that question: Why? I just want to ask [the shooter]: Why? I don't know if Eric did anything to him, or if it was a mistaken identity. ... It eats me to this day."
Henry was previously convicted in a 2009 armed-robbery case and released from prison in May 2014, according to Nicole Wilson, a spokeswoman with the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Jaranilla said it's possible the old case could be linked to Henry's murder "because I can't think of any other cause. ... Honestly, everybody loved him in the neighborhood. They really did. He was just the life of the party. He knew someone everywhere he went."
Keeping his memory alive
For now, Jaranilla is focusing on finishing her bachelor's degree and keeping Henry's memory alive for their children, the youngest of whom will turn 2 on Monday.
"When we talk, we talk happy talks," Jaranilla said. "I'll point out when one of our kids acts like daddy. When [the kids] break down, I tell them Daddy is right here in their hearts."
She says life is lonely without Henry. The pair had been close since they were 12.
"My life is so boring without him right now. He was my best friend, my other half. It's like I lost a piece of me. I just sit and look at the wall sometimes," Jaranilla said as she broke down in tears. "He was basically all I had. I cry every day. I cry in the car. I cry when I go to school. I never let the kids see me cry though."
Gaddis will next appear in court June 6.
The Chicago Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Eric Henry, 26 had two children with girlfriend Kashe Jaranilla. Their daughter was especially distraught at Henry's death. "She was a daddy's girl," Jaranilla said. "She loved him so much." [Provided]
