The City of Chicago is mourning the death of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee who was shot multiple times Monday (November 2nd) afternoon in a Chicago alley in the South Side neighborhood of Gresham.
Witnesses say an argument broke out when Tyshawn was shot at about 4:15 pm. Investigators are still trying to determine if Tyshawn was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if he was targeted. Tyshawn’s grandmother, Bertha Lee, found the basketball he took to school everyday near his body.
“I saw the body in the alley. He was lying in blood,” Lee told the Chicago Tribune “But I didn’t see his face.”
Tyshawn, who dreamed of being drafted into the NBA, was pronounced dead at 4:39pm. Authorities say he was shot at close range including in the upper body and head. His mother Karla Lee told reporters amidst her anguish, her son promised he would make her proud and buy her a house when he got older.
“He’s a good kid. He didn’t deserve that, he didn’t deserve that,” she said through tears. “Emotions? They’re gone. I don’t have my baby no more.”
As of Wednesday evening, (November 4) Fox 32 Chicago reported a person of interest was being questioned by authorities in connection to Tyshawn’s murder.
Jada Pinkett Smith was one of many who took to Facebook to air her grievances with Tyshawn’s murder.
Sh@& happens… I know. A 9-year-old child shot several times in the torso in a Chicago alley in the middle of the day…
Posted by Jada Pinkett Smith on Wednesday, November 4, 2015