"This is a tragedy for kids like this. I'm putting out my condolences for the child," said area resident Derrick Raney who left a gift for the little boy he will never get to know.
Family members and neighbors were emotional Sunday over the incident, and there were a lot of unanswered questions about the circumstances. Relatives say the incident happened while the boy -- who lived in suburban Roselle with his mother and younger brother -- visited relatives at a West Side home.
Police say calls for help first came just after 1a.m. Sunday after neighbors reported hearing gunshots. Officers arrived to find the toddler in one of the apartment's rooms shot in the chest.
Detectives recovered a weapon and say two other children were present at the time it was fired.
It was still unclear Sunday evening how many adults were in the home at the time of the shooting, and distraught family members remain shocked.
Jaquan Reed was pronounced dead at an area hospital. Sunday, he was being remembered as a happy child whose future would have been bright.
His death struck a special cord with neighbor Dorothy Johnson. Her son, Terry, was shot and killed early Saturday morning and says all of her thoughts are with the little boy's mother.
"I, too, feel her pain because that was her baby," Johnson said.
