Model Competition Winner Kaylyn Pryor Killed, 15-Year-Old Boy Hurt In Englewood Drive-By Shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Evanston woman who had recently won a modeling contest was killed and a 15-year-old boy was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting Monday in Englewood.
Kaylyn Pryor, 20, was standing outside with the boy in the 7300 block of South May about 6:20 p.m. when someone in a passing vehicle shot them, police said.
Police said the shooting was possibly gang related, but that Pryor was not the intended target of the gunman. Police did not know whether the teenager had any gang affiliation.
Both were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said.
Pryor, who lived in the 400 block of Callan Avenue in Evanston, was shot in the armpit and pronounced dead at 7:01 p.m.
The boy suffered a gunshot wound to the groin, police said. He was listed in critical condition.
Kaylyn Pryor was the winner of the 2015 Mario Tricoci "Make Me A Model" contest. The finale for the event took place in late September.
"We are saddened and broken-hearted to learn of the tragic passing of Kaylyn Pryor. Our hearts and prayers go out to her family. This touches every one of us who knew and worked with her. Kaylyn will be remembered for her kind and generous spirit. She truly was beautiful inside and out." said Mario Tricoci.
Kaylyn Pryor was a dancer, a poet and an artist, and was excited about her new work as a model. But her long term goal was to be a lawyer.
Today, an old friend came from Wisconsin to remember her at the spot where she died.
"She had a beautiful spirit," said Felicia Davis. "She was so beautiful and so sweet. She was artistic and she had this wonderful personality."
Kaylyn had been staying recently in Englewood with her grandparents. They are overcome with grief.
"I can't express it in words," said Kaylyn's grandfather Marvin Scott. "I never had a feeling like this in my life."
"No one should have a gun, should be shooting anybody, but it's always the people that have so much talent, that the innocent are getting gunned down," said Chantal Pryor, Kaylyn's sister.