Another teenager, who was also inside the house, was hit. The teens are cousins, said the victim's mother.
According to police, the two teenage boys were in a bedroom when bullets came through the window. The shooting happened around 8:15 p.m. Monday at 419 Fairmont Avenue in unincorporated Lockport.
Both teens were taken to Silver Cross Hospital, where the 14-year-old was pronounced dead. The boy has been identified as Deont'e Lesley. He was apparently shot in the head.
The second victim is 17. He was grazed in the head by a bullet but is expected to be OK.
"I was in the bathroom, and I heard shots. I tried to come out. When I come through the door as I turned, they are lying in the hallway. I go in and see my little brother, and he is on the bed. He was still breathing. I didn't know he was hit twice. I didn't know he got it in the head," said Je-Von Lesley, victim's brother.
Deont'e was playing videogames with his two cousins at the time. His mother was also inside the living room during the shooting. She says her son was already thinking about college and was focused on playing football.
"He was heading for greatness. I think at the age of 11 he said, 'Mom, we need to pick out my college I'm going to,'" said mom Antoinette Walker. "I said, 'What college do you want to go to?' He said, 'I want to go to Texas. That is where the good football teams are.' He said, 'From there, I'm going to the NFL. I'm going to take care of you, Mama, and make you big. You won't ever have anything to worry about because I'm going to take care of you, Mama.'"
Deont'e was an eighth grader at Thompson Instructional Center School in Joliet. He was supposed to take his entrance exam to attend Providence Catholic High School soon.
"They lost one of the most charismatic little dudes that came out of here. He was going somewhere," said Phillip Henry, victim's cousin. "No one would target him. Little guy, all he did was play football and run around cracking jokes all day."
The Will County Sheriff's Office says they are following up on tips, but they have no suspect information yet. While Deont'e may have not been the intended target of the shooter or shooters, the house appears to have been.
"We have no information if anyone in the house was targeted, but the house was picked. It was fired directly into," said Sheriff Paul Kaupas, Will County Sheriff's Office.
Deont'e's mother says she doesn't know why somebody would target her house. For now, she's remembering her youngest son.
"He was also selected for a foreign exchange program this summer. He was going to go to Greece, France and Italy. He was so excited and so was I. I was so proud of my son. I still am," said Walker.
Will County sheriff's police say it is possibly related to another area shooting or shootings.
Police ask anyone with information about the shooting to call the Will County Sheriff's Office at 815-727-8574 or Will County Crimestoppers at 800-323-6734.
