16-year-old girl shot, killed in Avalon Park worked with 'Englewood First Responders,' friends say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 16-year-old girl who was killed in shooting Friday night on the city's South Side is being remembered by her community.

Meeyah Smith was part of a Chicago organization called "Englewood First Responders," which works to diminish gun violence by performing acts of service for neighbors. She was killed just a few miles away from the community she worked to uplift.

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The shooting happened in the Avalon Park neighborhood's 1200-block of East 83rd Street around 11 p.m. Friday.

Police said an armed offender walked up and shot Smith and a 35-year-old man. The man survived.

Smith's co-workers who became her close friends told ABC7 on Sunday they are shocked after the sudden loss.

"Meeyah, she was just she was one of a kind," friend Saunte Brown said. "She didn't deserve what happened to her. She was special."

Her friends said Englewood First Responders' work was embraced by Smith to stay out of trouble.

"When we first met, it was like she fit into this program," Englewood First Responders CEO and founder Charles McKenzie said. "She was like, 'I'm looking for something to keep me out the streets, from doing things that other young people do.' And I'm like, 'this the program for you.'"

McKenzie said he taught Smith how to mow the lawn. The non-profit also helps clean neighborhoods, spend time with seniors and embraces families experiencing hardship.

"It hit a person that's trying to make a change and difference against gun violence," McKenzie said.

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"I'm always shocked things that are happening in this area," Avalon Park resident James Riley said on Saturday. "I'm getting used to it at the same time, but it is heartbreaking."

Street pastor and anti-violence activist Donovan Price said he's concerned about what feels like an uptick in gun violence.

"Sometimes it's about plain evil as long as people have guns, they're going to use them whenever they get angry," Price said. "It's a tool of convenience of angry convenience."

No one is in custody for the Fourth of July shooting as Chicago police continue to investigate.

"I have two sons and I'm very concerned about them," Avalon Park resident Shana Riley said. "I have two brothers, one that was murdered and one that was shot, so it is affecting me personally."

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