Oct 8, 2009 5:18 pm US/Central
Young Mother Shot Dead Near Garfield Park
Police Are Optimistic They Can Solve The Case With Surveillance Footage
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Natasha Howliet, 20, was gunned down while standing at a bus stop on the city's West Side.
CBS
Police believe they have some powerful evidence to work with in the latest act of street violence that has Chicagoans shaking their heads in disbelief. A young mother of three was killed in a drive-by shooting on the West Side near Garfield Park Wednesday night.
Around 8 p.m. Wednesday, Natasha Howliet, 20, was standing at a bus stop near Madison Street and Homan Avenue, along with two men, when a red car drove by and someone inside started shooting.
Police say surveillance video may provide important clues to the killer's identity.
Natasha Howliet was a mother of three who has worked at a discount store, but was looking forward to a better future. Those hopes were extinguished Wednesday night when she was shot to death.
On Thursday morning, friends and relatives had a story all too familiar, of a young person who was the unintended victim of a drive-by shooting.
As she approached the bus stop where her cousin was gunned down, Shenicka Sturghil couldn't control her tears. And as the memorial of stuffed animals and flowers grew, so did her anguish.
"She had just got her certificate as a medical assistant and she was looking for a job," said Sturghil. "She wasn't a bad person at all. They didn't have to do this to her. It's not fair. It's not right."
"It's crazy, just like that boy that got beat. These kids are dying for nothing," said Deborah Sturghil, Natasha's aunt. "And she was only 20 years old. Her whole life ahead of her, now it's gone. For what? Nothing."
Authorities believe one of the men on the corner was the intended target.
The shooting took place right under a police department surveillance camera. Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis said that video evidence could be instrumental.
"The good news is we got excellent camera footage. And we're very optimistic that we can solve this case," said Weis.
But as CTA crews swept up the broken glass and replaced the shattered pane in the corner bus shelter, solutions for street violence were harder to come by.
West side ministers, including pastor Robin Hood, offered street side prayer.
"Where is the justice, O Heavenly Father, when our brothers and sisters get gunned down on the streets in our neighborhood, O Heavenly Father, that are innocent victims of gun violence, O God," the Rev. Robin Hood invocated as he led a prayer circle near the crime scene.
But that was little consolation for Natasha's grieving father, Mario Howliet, who sat with his head in his hands at the bus stop, struggling to come to terms with a senseless loss.
"She got three kids and what happened, man, it should never have happened. It shouldn't," Mario said, before breaking down in tears.
Natasha's MySpace page indicates she graduated West Town Academy, 2021 W. Fulton St., in 2008 after spending her first two years of high school at Clemente Community Academy, 1147 N. Western Ave.
She lists herself as a "proud parent" interested in basketball and cheerleading, who had worked at K-Mart.
This tragic also shooting happened on the same day as the breakfast meeting on youth violence in Chicago, attended by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, and Mayor Richard M. Daley.
But more importantly, it happened on the birthday of Natasha's 3-year-old daughter.
Natasha also leaves behind a girl who will be 2 years old next month and a 6-month-old baby boy.
CBS 2's Derrick Blakley and Ed Curran, and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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