Peace march honors 12-year-old Benjamin Mays Academy student shot to death in Englewood
Damien Green's great-grandmother says he was on his way to her home when he was fatally shot
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A grieving father laid on the ground at the exact spot where his 12-year-old son was found on the cold pavement, shot to death on Sunday evening on the South Side.
A group came together on Monday near a park that bears the name of another Englewood child found murdered nearby. Community members and Chicago police officers wrapped their hands around the boy's mother and father, reeling from a tragic and sudden loss.
"This park is a safe haven, or should be a safe haven," said Safe Passage manager Michael Tidmore.
But, that sense of safety near the park is now stripped away after it became yet another crime scene.
"Absolutely heartbreaking that we have to see a situation like this again," said Englewood Outreach worker Marlon Hammond.
Police said they found 12-year-old Damien Green shot and killed on Sunday night.
Green's body was discovered in the middle of the block on Lowe near 67th. The boy's great-grandmother said he was on his way to her home when he was shot, and he had went to church and played basketball earlier in the day.
"It's like, another son of Englewood is gone, and it just hurts my heart, because I'm sure he'd be on the same side of this camera, fighting for the same cause as I am," Hammond said.
Relatives said Damien was a sixth-grader at Benjamin Mays Academy in Englewood.
The school district released a statement, saying, "We are devastated at the loss of another young life. The thoughts and condolences of the entire Chicago Public Schools family are with all those impacted by this tragedy."
Michael Tidmore is the manager of Safe Passage at the boy's school. Workers for the program ensure students safely get home after classes let out.
"I'm so distraught about it. Like, I couldn't hardly sleep," Tidmore said. "They see him and greet him every morning."
Tidmore also led the effort to rename the park, Ryan Harris Memorial Park. Harris, an 11-year-old girl, was found in 1998, raped and murdered in a nearby lot in Englewood.
Decades later, another child from the community is gone.
"Every child that gets shot, we lose one hour off of tomorrow," 6th Ward Alderman William Hall said. "We won't have a tomorrow in the city of Chicago until we start saving kids today."
Hall said the community should be outraged.
"As we go to bed tonight, the question should become when we wake up tomorrow, when is another kid going to get shot before we finally figure out that kids matter? Ald. William Hall said. "This is the city of big shoulders. How many children are we putting on our shoulders?"
Police, community activists and elected officials now asking the public for help in solving this case.
"It's up to the community to solve this type of tragedy," CPD Deputy Chief Gilberto Calderon said. "That happened today. And I ask the community there in Englewood to please call the hot tip line."
The effort the find his killer is an ongoing fight.
"We know that a lot of people live with trauma on top of trauma, and if they're not stopped, the madness will continue," Hammond said.
There is a $15,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case.
"We have to be involved. The community has to come out," Tidmore said.
Green's great-grandmother said this is her fifth grandson killed in the street.
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