Artists work to fix defaced Adam Toledo mural in Little Village
Family announces non-profit, Adam's place, for at risk youth on what would have been teen's 14th birthday
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A newly painted mural dedicated to Adam Toledo has been vandalized.
The artist, Milton Coronado, confirmed Thursday that it happened overnight.
With the help of 20-year-old William Guerrero, a fellow artist who is also known as "The Kid From Pilsen," Coronado is attempting to repair the damage.
The mural displays the names of people who have lost their lives to gun violence. The centerpiece of the mural is the portrait of Toledo with the Virgin Mary right next to him, surrounded by three doves.
"It's a sign of disrespect," Guerrero said. "That's someone's child, that's someone's friend, that's someone's brother."
Little Village mural dedicated to Adam Toledo, 13-year-old killed in police shooting
"This mural being destroyed for a second time should really show just where we are at and the focus really needs to stay the same, and that is, Adam was killed by police," said Delilah Martinez, Founder of The Mural Movement.
Martinez' Mural Movement, which creates murals with messages of unity between Black and brown communities, is responsible for the 17-foot tall, 40-foot wide mural Coronado and located near Lawndale and Ogden avenues on property owned by the teen's family.
Chicago police shot and killed the 13-year-old in March. Video appeared to show a gun in Toledo's hand, which he appeared to drop moments before being shot.
CPD confirmed that a police report about the vandalism was filed.
Organizers of the mural effort are also working to have security lights and cameras installed around the memorial as the family of Toledo continues to demand justice.
On what would have been Toledo's 14th birthday Wednesday, Toledo's family announced the creation of a non-profit called Adam's Place, a rural home for at-risk youth that will eventually be set on a 20-acre plot of land nearly 200 miles north of Chicago in Grant County, Wisconsin. The hope is groundbreaking for Adam's Place can happen sometime this fall, with the first class moving in next summer.
