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Vigil For Slain Star Student James Garrett, An Innocent Victim Of Gun Violence

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A emotional remembrance was held Monday for a top student who was fatally shot over the weekend while he attended another vigil.

As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, it was a scene of prayer and testimony for James Garrett.

Many of the hundreds of students who packed into the second floor common area at Butler College Prep we're teary-eyed.

"He was doing the right thing," a school staff member told Garrett's family at the assembly.  "Thank you for allowing us to share him with you."

Garrett was one of three innocent victims of gun violence this past weekend.  The others: a two-year-old fatally caught in crossfire and a 65-year-old, who was coming home from church.

The 65-year-old was in her car when she heard dozens of shots as she approached the intersection of 70th and Merrill.

The next thing she knew she was bleeding from her side.

She was rushed to the hospital and fortunately is in stable condition

The 2-year-old boy, Julien Gonzalez, was fatally shot in the neck in the Hermosa neighborhood.

It happened Saturday night at around 10:15 p.m. near Kilbourne and Palmer.

The young boy was standing on the sidewalk with a teenager, when two women got into a fight and someone started firing.

Garrett was killed a few hours before at 132nd and Prairie on the far South Side.

The Butler College Prep student had already been accepted to college.

He had nearly perfect grades and was attending a vigil for an accident victim when a fight broke out and someone started shooting.

Chris Goins, Garrett's principal at Butler College Prep called him an extraordinary young man focused on academics. The first in his class to get accepted into college. A teen on his way to becoming a teacher.

"This young man has a 3.9 GPA," said Goins. "He wanted to go to a historically black college. He wanted to major in education. He wanted to be the change that we're looking for in this community."

"He's going to inspire someone. We don't know the meaning of his death right now, but his story will motivate someone else," Goins said.

 

 

 

 

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