14-Year-Old Boy Shot To Death In Gage Park
(STMW) -- A 14-year-old boy who was shot to death late Saturday in the Southwest Side Gage Park neighborhood had recently moved back to Chicago from Virginia with his pregnant mother and younger sister.
J-Quantae Riles, 14, was walking home from the store with a group of friends in the 2200 block of West 59th Street about 9:30 p.m. when shots rang out, according to Chicago Police and anti-violence activist Andrew Holmes, who spoke with the boy's mother Sunday.
The teen was found dead on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the back, authorities said. Holmes said it's unclear if the shooting was a drive-by. The teen's friends ran off when they heard the shots.
J-Quantae's mother had recently moved the teen and his seven-year-old sister back to Chicago from Virginia, Holmes said. She is six months pregnant with twins.
"She moved there to enhance their quality of life but it didn't work out, so she returned back here," Holmes said.
"She thinks it's her fault because he got shot, but I explained to her it's not her fault," Holmes said. "She's totally upset. She's totally traumatized."
Holmes asks anyone with information about the shooting to call Operation Restoring Innocence at (800) 883-5587 or Chicago Surviors at (312) 488-9222.
Another person was shot to death about 2 miles east on 59th Street about 25 minutes later, according to police.
Michael A. Johnson, 43, was found with a gunshot wound to the head about 10:45 p.m. sitting in the driver's seat of a parked vehicle in the 700 block of West 59th Street, authorities sad.
Johnson, of the 2900 block of West 79th Street, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead 11:22 p.m., the medical examiner's office said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
