Former Morgan Park HS, EIU football standout killed during birthday party at grandma's Harvey home
HARVEY, Ill. (WLS) -- Keshawn Lewis-Hunt, a former football standout at Morgan Park High School and Eastern Illinois University, was fatally shot during a birthday party at his grandmother's home in south suburban Harvey on Monday, according to police and family members.
Police said Lewis-Hunt, 20, was shot multiple times during a house party. Family members said the shooting happened shortly after 1:15 a.m. at his grandmother's home near 160th Street and Ashland Avenue.
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Investigators said a fight broke out between two women during the birthday celebration. Relatives said Lewis-Hunt was attempting to intervene and de-escalate the altercation when he was shot.
"As you was trying to break it up, break up a girl fight, you wind up getting shot," his brother, Konya Hunt, said.
Lewis-Hunt's death has devastated family members, friends and former coaches who watched him develop as both an athlete and a person.
Nathan Irons, Lewis-Hunt's former youth football coach, said he began coaching him when he was 7 years old.
"To watch somebody grow up, and they get taken away from you - that's the worst feeling I got right now," Irons said.
Irons described Lewis-Hunt as someone who routinely sought to calm conflicts rather than create them.
"Key went out being who he was; always trying to de-escalate a situation. He didn't care for the drama," Irons said.
Lewis-Hunt later died at a hospital. His death ended aspirations of playing professional football, leaving loved ones mourning the loss of a young man they said had a promising future.
"Right now, I don't even know because I'm not supposed to have last words for him," Irons said as he cried.
Police said two other men were injured in the shooting. Family members said one of the injured men was Lewis-Hunt's cousin, whose birthday was being celebrated.
No arrests have been announced, and the investigation remains ongoing.
