Blind, mentally challenged man gunned down in Chicago park: 'Nicest kid ever'

FOX 32 NEWS - Memorial Day saw a drop off from violence that marked a bloody weekend last year. However, it took the life of a young man described as a park volunteer and a kind-hearted person.

"My heart is totally broken. I don't believe Jervone is gone," said the victim's aunt, Edna Young.

Crime scene tape and working detectives swarmed what neighbors described as a normally quiet park in the 9800 block of south Wallace Street, after some say they heard as many as 20 rounds fired, killing a 20-year-old man.

His name was Jervone Morris. He was both blind and mentally challenged, and he played basketball at the park every day.

"That's all he would do - everyday routine. Cross that street and go to the park," Aunt Edna said.

His aunt and uncle raised him around the corner from where the shooting happened and are taking the news hard.

"He was the nicest kid ever. A good nephew. I love him with all my heart," said Uncle Deryl Young.

Across the city, so far this weekend, shootings have left at least 4 people dead and close to 30 more injured, including a 15-year-old boy killed in a drive-by in the Lawndale neighborhood.

Last year during Memorial Day weekend, more than 70 were injured in citywide shootings that also left 6 killed.

Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson has added an extra 1,300 patrol officers through early Tuesday to help.
Police are also getting a boost from a citywide anti-violence initiative, seizing 7 guns and leading to 30 arrests.

"I love him with all my heart. That's why I cry so much," Uncle Deryl said.

But at the scene where heartbreak meets anger, this loss is what matters most.

"We're going to have to comfort each other," Aunt Edna said.

On Tuesday, Chicago police plan to announce a strategic decision center for a South Side district which will see the addition of cameras and gunshot analytic tools - another tool in the box as police seek to keep the violence down.