Jul 12, 2009 5:56 pm US/Central
Family Mourns Soldier Shot on Hometown Streets
One Person in Custody, Charges Pending Sunday; Police Search For Second Suspect in Shooting
HARVEY, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Simeon Sanders, 21, was shot and killed on Thursday night. The Harvey resident, who came back from Iraq, was visiting his family while on furlough.
CBS
Dying is something every soldier has to deal with. But a Harvey soldier wasn't killed overseas; he was killed at home. CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli talked to his family about the end of a promising life.
Private Simeon Sanders' army uniform is laid out in a chair in his Harvey home. The 21-year-old soldier will next wear it this weekend when he's laid out at his wake and funeral.
"He was just a light – a light that shined," said Sanders' sister Shantelle Coleman.
Sander's light was snuffed out Thursday night by a shooter who was aiming for someone else when he shot Sanders in the back. Sanders was on furlough from the U.S. Army.
Sanders and his cousin had just bought some French fries at a nearby business when a fight broke out between two men. Sanders and his cousin sensed danger, so they tried to run across the street, but they didn't get far because Sanders was caught in the crossfire. He collapsed in front of the Harvey community center.
Loved ones paid tribute to the young soldier with flowers, candles and chalk messages left on the spot where he fell mortally wounded. Sanders' oldest sister had this message for her brother's killers.
"I hope you understand what you did to my family, what you took away from us," Coleman said.
Meochia Thompson says her brother was a fun loving prankster who always made people laugh with his crazy antics. She remembers one such prank--when she first saw Sanders after he took a razor to his face.
"Simeon looked like Frankenstein and I couldn't figure out why, me and my mom started cracking up when we realized he had shaved off his eyebrows," Thompson said.
Thompson laughs just thinking about the story, but stops when she thinks about the harsh reality that her brother died not in a theater of war but on the streets of his hometown.
"Here he is, he's innocent in civilian clothes and some idiots just take him out," Thompson said. "How can you take out somebody who is fighting for you?"
Coleman is an Iraq war veteran. She feared he too would be sent to Iraq, but now believes he would be safer there.
"He was loved, he was truly loved," Coleman said.
And obviously will always be loved by those he was forced to leave behind.
The shooting happened at East 154th Street and Center Avenue about 8 p.m. Thursday, according to Harvey spokeswoman Sandra Alvarado.
One person remained in police custody Sunday afternoon but charges were pending, according to Alvarado, who said detectives continued to search for a second suspect sought in the murder.
Sanders death was a ruled a homicide, a Friday autopsy revealed.
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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