19-year-old found murdered in Evanston basement

EVANSTON, Ill. (WLS) -- A body of a male 19-year-old was found in the basement of an apartment building in north suburban Evanston, police said.

The victim was identified as Star Paramore, who lived with his mother in the multi-unit building in the 1200-block of Harvard Terrace, near Barton Avenue, officials said. His mother, Janet McEwan, had not heard from him since Wednesday and had grown increasingly concerned with each passing day. Now she is in shock.

"Police came and they told me that my son is in the basement, that's where they found him, in the basement," she said.

He sustained a single gunshot wound to the head, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

Paramore is believed to have been dead one to two days before he was found at about 5:30 p.m. Friday. The body was found near storage lockers on Friday evening by a resident trying to get into their storage area. Investigators said they believe he was shot inside the common area of the basement.

"How dare you take an innocent life like that? You're nothing but a coward and we are going to find you!" said Kesha Blackwood, his sister.

His sister and mother say they used to watch the news together and talk about how sad it was that so many people were being shot and killed. Now those stories hit too close to home.

"It's just ridiculous to see what's going on. These kids killing kids, it's just so sad, it's so cold!" McEwan says.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Evanston Police Department at 847-866-5000 or use Text-A-Tip anonymously by texting the information to 274637 and entering EPDTIP in the message line with the tip information.