Let us not forget Tyshawn
Lee, every year on January 23 and November 2. We made him one of The 82 murdered children of Unit 1012 and Janusz Korczak’s 190+ children where we will not
forget him. Let us remember how he lived on this earth.
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Tyshawn
Lee
(January
23, 2006 to November 2, 2015)
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Birth:
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Jan.
23, 2006, USA
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Death:
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Nov. 2,
2015
Chicago Cook County Illinois, USA |
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Tyshawn Lee, age 9 of Chicago.
Tyshawn was creative, artistic, charming and helpful — and had an
imagination out of this world," said Alene Mason, principal
at Joplin Elementary School, where the Tyshawn attended fourth grade. "He taught us how to strive for perfection every
day."
Father Mike Pfleger conducted the funeral service at St. Sabina Church. |
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Tyshawn Lee: 5 Fast Facts
You Need to Know
Published 3:03 pm EST, November 3, 2015 Updated 12:13
am EST, November 6, 2015 49
Comments By Tom Cleary
A 9-year-old Chicago boy was lured
into an alley and gunned down because of his father’s gang ties, police say.
Tyshawn Lee was targeted by his killer
and shot Monday afternoon in the city’s South Side near his grandmother’s
housem police said. He “was murdered in probably the most abhorrent, cowardly,
unfathomable crime that I’ve witnessed in 35 years of policing,” police
Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Thursday at a press conference.
“This is not a stray bullet,
not a drive-by — this is multiple gunshots to a child and only that one person
shot,”
Reverend Michael Pfleger told the Chicago Sun-Times. “There’s
no question that this is targeted and that it’s an execution.”
The shooting happened at about 4:15
p.m., police said. Police said they are still investigating.
“We believe that this is the
most recent in a series of gang-related, violent events,” McCarthy said.
Tyshawn’s father, Pierre Stokes, 25,
told reporters he does not believe he is the reason his son was killed.
“I don’t believe it’s
retaliation because I never did nothing for nobody to hurt my son,” Stokes said
Thursday.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. His Father
Is Not Cooperating in the Investigation, Police Say
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Tyshawn
Lee
(January
23, 2006 to November 2, 2015)
|
Police said Tyshawn Lee’s father is in
a gang that has tied to in a string of violent events.
“We believe Tyshawn’s father
has ties to a gang that is in conflict with another gang,” Police Superintendent
Garry McCarthy said Thursday. McCarthy said Tyshawn’s father is not cooperating
with police investigators.
The boy’s father, Pierre Stokes, told
reporters he doesn’t know the answers to the questions police are asking.
Stokes said if someone was trying to
get to him, they wouldn’t have to go after his son.
“I’m not hard to find,” Stokes told
the Chicago Tribune. He also expressed anger with the police.
“They’re more worried about
me. Why are you worried about me, not the killer?” Stokes, 25, said outside his
residence in the Auburn-Gresham community. “I’m not the
killer. Worry about the killer.”
He would not say specifically if he
was in a gang or not, the Tribune reports.
Tyshawn’s killing is believed to be
connected to two South Side gang murders, the Chicago Tribune reports, citing law enforcement
sources.
The Tribune reports Tyshawn’s death
could be connected to the murders of Tracey Morgan, a 25-year-old killed on October 13, and 19-year-old Brianna Jenkins five days later. A member of a
gang that rivals Morgan’s gang was also wounded in the second shooting, the
newspaper reports. A relative of Tyshawn belongs to the same gang as the
wounded man, and police sources told the Tribune the boy might have been shot
as continued retaliation for Morgan’s death.
Tyshawn was shot several times at
close range, police sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.
His grandmother, who lives nearby,
came outside to find that her grandson had been shot.
“I saw the body in the
alley. He was lying in blood,”
Bertha Lee told the Chicago Tribune. “But I
didn’t see his face.”
2. His Mother Is Pleading for Anyone
With Information to Come Forward
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Photographs of Tyshawn Lee are on display at
his visitation at Haven of Rest church in the South Chicago neighborhood Nov.
9, 2015.
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Tyshawn’s mother, Karla, posted a
heartbreaking video to Facebook after her son was fatally shot.
“Thanks for all your
support,” Lee
said through tears. “All I can do is just pray. This
s**t hurts. It hurts. I miss my son.”
She is pleading for anyone with
information to come forward to help find her son’s killer.
“I just want justice for my
son. Whoever knows anything, please let the police know. Please. He was only
nine. He didn’t deserve this,”
said Karla Lee, his mother, at a news conference.
Tyshawn was a student at Scott Joplin
Elementary School.
“I was angry, I was upset, I
was hurt – all at the same time. There is no one here protecting these kids,” said Lakesha Alexander, a
parent at the school, told ABC Chicago.
3. The
Basketball He Brought to School Every Day Was Found Near His Body
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Tyshawn Lee, with his mother, Kara.(GoFundMe)
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The basketball that Tyshawn brought to
school with him every day was found near his body, according to the Chicago Tribune.
His mother told the
newspaper her son loved playing basketball and dreamed of being in the NBA. He
was a student at a local elementary school, and also enjoyed video games.
She says he told her,
“Mom, when I get older I’m going to take care of you, I’m going to get you a
new house.”
“He was going to make me
real proud of him. I believed every word my son said,” Karla Lee told the
Tribune. “He’s a good kid. He didn’t deserve that, he didn’t deserve that,” she
said through tears. “Emotions? They’re gone. I don’t have my baby no more.”
4. $17,000 in
Reward Money Has Been Offered for Information Leading to the Shooter
According to ABC Chicago, $17,000 in reward money is
available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.
The money has been offered by local
churches and other organizations.
“This child should be in a
classroom tomorrow,”
anti-violence activist Andrew Holmes told the Chicago Tribune Monday night. “The perpetrators who discharged this weapon shouldn’t have
no bed to sleep in tonight. … This was a baby. This child should have been
walking to school in the morning,” Holmes said, “not taking a ride to the
medical examiner’s office.”
5. A GoFundMe
Account Has Been Set Up to Help Pay for Tyshawn’s Funeral
A friend of Tyshawn’s mother has set up a GoFundMe
account to help pay for his funeral. You can donate here.
“The only thing that’s
making me smile through this pain is to know that people helping my friend be
able to lay her baby to rest and trust me she really appreciate everyone who
sent they condolences and keeping her in you all prayers and donations to help
towards her son homegoing we thank you all!,” wrote Chaquela Moore.
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