Cook Co. Board honors Chicago graduate who lost mother to gun violence

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Darius Johnson's mother was killed in a drive-by shooting when he was just five weeks old and now, 21 years later, the Chicago native is headed to an Ivy League university.

Johnson was honored by the Cook County Board with a resolution Wednesday.

"I thank you all and I'm definitely going to make you all proud. Thank you," he told the board members.

Johnson was raised by his grandparents after his mother's death. He graduated from King College Prep and Morehouse College.

"I never would have thought an African American male from the South Side of Chicago like myself would be going to an Ivy League school to get a master's education," he said.

Johnson will attend graduate school at the Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City. He is one of just six African Americans in his class.