Sep 5, 2008 5:57 pm US/Central
10-Year-Old Victim Of Gang Violence Laid To Rest
Nequiel Fowler Among 125 People Fatally Shot In Chicago This Summer
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Family members came together Friday for a final farewell to a young Chicago girl. Ten-year-old Nequiel Fowler lost her life to gang violence while walking with her blind sister.
Nequiel's grieving mother sobbed silently over her coffin. A relative took Nequiel's younger sister, Valerie's, hand and guided it over the casket. Valerie is blind; she and Nequiel were walking near their Southeast Side home when Nequiel was killed.
"We watched her take her last breath. It hurt. It hurt for a little child to lose her life like that," said family friend Sharon Jones.
Nequiel was the youngest victim shot to death since Memorial Day. From May 26 until Labor Day cbs2chicago.com has counted 125 people who were shot dead. That's nearly double the number of American servicemen and women killed in Iraq in the same period.
Tracking Summer Shootings In ChicagoThe West Englewood neighborhood around 67th and the Dan Ryan Expressway had the highest number of deadly shootings, seven this summer. Residents aren't surprised.
"People get mad and go get a gun. Now instead of taking one life you done taken two. It's messed up. Young boys dying, young girls, babies dying," a Chicago man said.
The murders happened across the city, most on the South Side, but even downtown turned violent when a man was fatally shot near Grant Park after the Independence Day fireworks.
Tio Hardiman says the summer has been a rough one, and he speaks from experience. As the director of CeaseFire his job is to try and prevent shootings in the communities. He says the problem is too many idle young men who don't know how to resolve conflicts without guns.
The solution, he says, is more men willing to talk to young teens.
"We need a thousand men to hit the streets every weekend, reach out, find out what they want and get these guys off the streets," Hardiman said.
In addition to the 125 people killed by gunfire CBS 2 estimates that another 247 people were shot and wounded.
Chicago police dispute our numbers and a police spokesperson said they did not match department statistics. However, police would not provide us with any more information.
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