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Reward Increased For Arrest Of Aspiring Model's Killer

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The father of a 20-year-old model who was shot and killed in Englewood earlier this month has announced an increased reward for information leading to his daughter's killer.

Kaylyn Pryor, of Evanston, had just signed her first modeling contract, and was planning to go to law school, but her dreams disappeared when she was slain in a drive-by shooting in the 7300 block of South May Street on Nov. 2. She had just left her grandmother's house to catch a bus home to Evanston.

Police have said Pryor was not the intended target. A 15-year-old boy who was standing with Pryor on the sidewalk also was wounded in the shooting.

A $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Pryor's killer has climbed to $15,000, after donations came in from several churches and anonymous donors.

"It takes a village to raise a child, but it does take a community to protect a child, and so we stand here to offer additional reward amount for the arrest and the capture and conviction of a perpetrator of this crime," Rev. Roosevelt Watkins said.

Her father, Alan "Nick" Scott has said he views his daughter's killer as "having a demon inside him," but said he's also praying for the killer, and hopes police catch him soon.

"I'm hurting, I'm in pain, but I'm not the first that's gone through this, and I'm driven, because Kaylyn had aspirations," he said.

Pryor was the winner of the 2015 Mario Tricoci "Make Me A Model" contest in late September. She was getting ready for a job interview with Victoria's Secret, but her family said her true aspiration was to become a lawyer.

Rev. Ira Acree, one of the pastors who helped collect donations for the reward money, had a message for anyone who might be helping the killer hide.

"If you know who killed this person, this girl, this angel, and you are holding them or harboring in your home, you just may as well have pulled the trigger. The blood is on your hands," Rev. Ira Acree said.

Pryor's wake was being held Friday at Calahan Funeral Home at 7030 S. Halsted St. from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Her funeral will be on Saturday at New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church, 754 E. 77th St.

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