Man, 19, in custody after great-grandmother killed, great-aunt shot in face in Park Manor
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 19-year-old was taken into custody and evaluated at St. Bernard Hospital on Monday after Chicago police say he appears to have shot both his great-aunt and great-grandmother inside their Park Manor neighborhood home.
The great-grandmother was identified as 88-year-old Valoria Taylor.
"We love our family. God has been good to us," said Edward Pillows, who identified himself as Taylor's nephew. "We have never had nothing like this happen. Never."
According to Chicago police, officers responded to a disturbance call in the 7000 block of South Prairie around 1:30 a.m. Monday.
When police arrived, they found a 39-year-old woman shot in the face in the stairwell of the two-flat home. Still alive, she was rushed to the hospital.
On the second floor, the 19-year-old man was barricaded inside the apartment. SWAT was called as police negotiated with the man for hours. He gave himself up without incident around 7:30 a.m.
When investigators entered the apartment they found a weapon and Valoria Taylor's body.
"She was a great lady. I spent the night here so many times when I was a little boy. My uncle, we used to go downstairs, he'd cut my hair. We used to have BBQs on the Fourth of July," said Pillows.
Ms. Taylor, as she was known to those in the neighborhood, moved into her Park Manor home in the 1950s. She was, according to friend and block club president Winifred Surles, still quite active.
"She was a very nice lady. She was very accommodating. You could ask her for any kind of favor," Surles said.
Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting, but neighbors say Taylor's great-grandson lived with her and may have had mental health issues.
Charges against him were pending Monday evening.
The second woman shot, identified by relatives as Taylor's grand-daughter is hospitalized at the University of Chicago. She is, they say, expected to recover.
