The cousins are the latest young victims of crime in Chicago. One week ago, 17-year old Corey McClaurin was shot and killed while in a car waiting to pick up a friend. His funeral was held Saturday at St. Sabina church. Thursday afternoon, Derrion Albert, 16, was beaten to death by a mob of teens.
Saturday, Derrion Albert's mother, Anjanette Albert, began to accept the new title fate has given her as she became one of the latest mothers to join the Chicago chapter of Parents of Murdered Children.
"It's hard. You hear about it happening to other people's kids and never think it's something that'll happen to yours," Anjanette Albert said.
Her son was a Fenger Academy high school junior and honor roll student who had moved to Chicago a year ago to live with his grandparents in order to take care of them.
Albertwas attacked in front of a popular Roseland Christian community center Thursday afternoon as he left school headed home. Witnesses say there were dozens of teenagers from two gangs in a vacant lot outside the Agape community center.
Youth worker T-Awannda Piper witnessed the fight, which she says involved more than five dozen boys.
"Before I knew it, there was Derrion being hit over the head with a large plank, a two-by-four in the head and was starting to be beaten by some other students," she said.
Piper and another 'Good Samaritan' dragged the unconscious teen's body inside the building, but Derrion was eventually pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Investigators hope surveillance video from the community center's security cameras will provide some leads.
Meanwhile, a West Side community is struggling with the loss of two more promising teens. Tyrone Williams and his cousin Percy Day were gunned down Friday night in the 3700-block of West Polk, where Williams lived.
"It was a shame that they got assassinated, basically. They were too young and too promising," said Marlow Williams, victims' relative.
Family members live near by and say the two cousins were close friends and tried to spend time together when Williams was home from school. He was a student at the University of Illinois in Champaign. Day was a high school student also enrolled in a program at DeVry University and had plans to enroll at Michigan State University.
Witnesses say the two victims attempted to run from the shooter and that they were innocent victims.
"They had a lot going on for themselves, a lot going on. They had goals, and they were trying to reach them," Marlow Williams said.
Police say the shooter was not familiar to the victims. There was no one in custody Saturday night and police did not have a motive.
With the violence escalating, anti-gang and gun violence advocates say the community must get involved.
"We're put up a $5,000 reward for the killer of this young man [Corey McClaurin], and we're putting up a $5,000 reward for any child that gets killed. People have to break the silence. Somebody know who did it. Somebody knows what happened," said Fr. Michael Pfelger of St. Sabina church.
