'Brazen' South Side mass shooting takes life of mother of 3 in Chatham, 9 others injured

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Kimfier Miles was 29-years-old when the mother of three was shot and killed while out with some friends on 75th Street on the city's South Side over the weekend.

"I guess the police were trying to clear the area and someone came out and started shooting," said Brenda Miles, the victim's mother.

Police say two men opened fire into the crowd in the 7500-block of South Prairie Avenue, early Saturday morning.

Miles was the only victim killed in the South Side mass shooting that left nine others wounded by the gunfire.

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Now the family is left reeling after not only losing the young mother but the way they found out. Miles' mom learned of the fatal shooting from her 11-year-old granddaughter.

"Her daughter called me and said that her mom was shot," Brenda said. "She was crying. I was asking her questions. She did not know a lot so I had to go with what they were telling me."

"Another sad story, that is Chicago for you," said Miles' sister Phylicia Miles.

The shooting happened in Alderman Roderick Sawyer's 6th ward.

"I was on the phone with a resident as it was happening," he said.

Police were working to clear the streets when shots were fired.

"Someone to be so brazen to shoot when the police were there in front of them, I do not know what to say, but they will be caught and prosecuted," Ald. Sawyer added.

The bustling business district of 75th Street is home to several Black-owned businesses. Earlier this year, Vice President Kamala Harris was in the area visiting Brown Sugar Bakery.

"I want businesses to grow there. We are considered a Black Wall Street, number one," Ald. Sawyer said.

The alderman said this shooting will not undo the years of hard work to improve the area.

"A place where people can come to enjoy themselves and when they finish -- go home," he added.

Miles' family is now more alert now than ever to the crime across the city.

"I do not go to Chicago events," Phylicia said. "You can be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and it could be anyone."

Monday night, Mayor Lori Lightfoot met with community leaders and residents in the Chatham neighborhood with the intention of addressing the violence in the area.