Parents Demand Answers After 16-Year-Old High School Student Is Gunned Down Outside His Father's Hazel Crest Home
HAZEL CREST, Ill. (CBS) -- A junior at Thornwood High School was recently gunned down in south suburban Hazel Crest, and on Tuesday night, his parents were looking for answers into what happened.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, two teens were hit when the shots were fired. One survived, but the other – D'Edward Phillips – died on his father's very front steps.
His parents are now left confused as to why their 16-year-old was targeted.
"They shot my baby multiple times - it was no one time," said Phillips' mother, Linyatta Philllips.
Phillips' parents can't believe their 16-year-old son is gone.
"That was my child," said Phillips' father, Leonard Carey. "It came to be just me and him here – we're depending on one another every day."
On Monday, Feb. 14, the Thornwood High School junior stepped outside his father's house in Hazel Crest. Dad wasn't home, and a friend had come by briefly just before 10 p.m.
"My son was coerced to go outside at that time of night," Carey said.
Before Phillips could walk back inside, someone fired multiple shots from a car. One bullet grazed Phillips' friend, but several pierced Phillips himself.
The 16-year-old collapsed and died in the front yard.
"It's been hard staying here," said Phillips' dad.
What's even harder for Phillips' parents is that the gunman remains on the loose. Hazel Crest police said Phillips was targeted, but his parents want to know why.
"He didn't deserve it," said Ms. Phillips. "He wasn't in no gang."
"The crazy thing is that I moved him out here from the city to try to save him – and I still end up losing him," added Carey.
The parents said Phillips spent most of his time playing video games – and thrived academically, especially in physics.
"I was just looking at his notebook yesterday and thinking about if he got stuck on physics problem, we would talk it out and stuff, you know?" said Phillips' father, "a very intelligent boy."
As police investigated late Tuesday, the parents want anyone in Hazel Crest to help them find justice.
"Just come forward," Carey said. "It could happen to anyone's child."
Hazel Crest police said detectives were still working the case late Tuesday. But Phillips' parents say someone in the community is sure to know something that could help get the killer off the streets.
