Seandell Holliday, 16, had a goal of living to 21 but was fatally shot at Millennium Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The mom of the 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed during chaos at Millennium Park Saturday night says he was a very intelligent young man whose life was cut too short.
A teen is facing charges of second degree murder, aggravated battery and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in Seandell Holliday's death.
She said her son fixed computers and cell phones. He was part of a large group gathered at Millennium Park Saturday night.
Seandell, a freshman at Gary Comer High School, joined a program to keep young men out of violence last year. It's called Champs Mentoring.
Vondale Singleton started the program and said Seandell had a bright future ahead of him.
"My heart dropped because this is not my first rodeo," he said. "I've done too many funerals for boys and young men under 18. He was very intelligent, always respectful. Our interactions were more about what did he need to do to get to the next level."
He said Seandell wrote down 10 goals. One of those was to reach the age of 21.
"So the next day we had a conversation in class about why he put that. He said there's so many things that happen in Chicago that you can die at any point at any day," Singleton said.
Video that has been circulating around social media shows the moments before Seandell was shot in the chest Saturday night.
The Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office say Seandell was standing by "The Bean" when he was shot.
Kareem Wells started the KWOE Foundation. It stands for Know your genius, Work to be unstoppable, Own your actions and Explore the world. He and so many other organizations want to keep kids from migrating to violence.
They see me walking with this flag they would laugh at me because this ain't cool. This aint cool, but to save lives to me is very cool," said Wells.
Officials with the city say they are working with mentor programs such as Champs to find a solution that would allow kids to gather downtown but not allow things to get out of hand.
Chicago police say charges are pending for the two people who were being questioned Saturday night.