Family of 14-year-old boy shot, killed while with friends in Auburn Gresham calls for justice

The violent long holiday weekend in Chicago captured national headlines and the attention of President Trump, with eight people dead and 39 more hurt.

One of those victims was a 14-year-old boy, shot and killed in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. The mother of the teen is now calling for justice.

Marcus Chatman's murder happened one week before his 15th birthday. His mother, Ahmani Hicks, describes him as a kid who loved sports, and she's baffled as to why her son was targeted.

Last Thursday night near 80th and Carpenter, Chatman's mother says he was with so-called friends when, for reasons unknown, someone shot him in his back—leaving him to die in an alley in Auburn Gresham.

"He was spending the night over there, and I figured I just talk to Marcus tomorrow, and it didn't go that way," Hicks said.

Instead, in the middle of the night, she was told to get to the University of Chicago Medical Center. That's where she would learn that her son had died.

"He's dead on arrival. There's nothing we can do to save him, and I just broke down. But who came? My football family," she said.

Hicks kept Marcus actively in the Midwest Hawks youth football league from age six until he aged out at 13. The league stepped up in this trying time, well beyond just flowers. 

"They've sent countless things from groceries," she said.

More importantly, love. The youth team set up a fundraiser to help pay for services. Hicks has three younger boys—10, 7, and six—to also care for.

"I pray that me and my boys stay strong for each other," she said.

As mom tries to stay strong, she's waiting on another call.

"I pray the state's attorney call me and say we got this person," she said.

Hicks said the police investigation reveals Chatman's so-called friends are linked to his death, and she says video shows what happened.

"My son is walking in front of them, they're behind him. They shoot my baby twice in the back," she said.

Leaving him to die alone in the alley. She wants his death to be a warning to other teens when it comes to choosing friends.

"He would be 15 Friday, and instead of me planning his birthday, I'm planning a funeral," she said.

Chicago police are only saying the investigation remains ongoing. 

Chatman's youth football team, which his stepdad is also a coach, will gather this week to honor him. The mother is hoping that an arrest comes before his birthday on Friday.