$5K reward offered for information after 16-year-old boy shot to death at Englewood park

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Desperate for answers, family members of a murdered teen are pounding the pavement.

They have been going door-to-door to ask people for help and placing flyers on cars, streetlights, and poles, hoping for any clues into who might have killed 16-year-old Marvel White.

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"I need justice for my son. He was killed for no reason," said Marcella White, the victim's mother.

Supposed to begin his junior year of high school in the fall, the teenager was killed last month at Ogden Park in Englewood.

Marvel's mother told ABC7 he was at the pool with friends on June 22. That is when, police said, he got into an argument with someone who shot him in the chest and legs.

"I never thought nothing like this would ever happen to my son at this park, because we always come here. We've been living in this area for years, years," Marcella said.

On Friday, family and friends returned to the park, where the teen often had basketball tournaments and family picnics, with a message to the community.

"It was a park full of adults, kids, everything. A whole park full of people. So, just step up, is what I'm asking," Marcella said.

The Restorative Project joined the victim's family to canvas the neighborhood.

"Because at the end of the day, if not us, then who?" said Restorative Project Executive Director Bilaal Evans. "Until the families and the men come out of their homes and the mothers come out of their homes and step up in the community and take their rightful places as leaders, providers and guiders for these young people, they're going to continue to do this."

Parents who have also lost children to gun violence, with the group Purpose Over Pain, are now offering a $5,000 reward for information that could help lead to an arrest.

"This continues to happen every single day. So, we have to figure out a way to get these people that's shooting people off the street," said Pam Bosley with Purpose Over Pain.

Chicago police said they still have no one in custody for White's murder while detectives continue to investigate.

"We want to let everybody know that if any child loses their life, it affects the whole community," Evans said.

Anyone with information is urged to call the police. You can also submit a tip anonymously.

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