Coach remembers slain teen as a good, fun-loving teammate

By Cat Zakrzewski
Homicide Watch Chicago

Former punter Stephon Wright could get laughs from everyone at a Julian High School football practice - even his coach.

“He was just a jokester,” Coach Jason Richardson said. “A practical jokester.”

On Monday night, in the 10400 block of Green, Wright became the third player Richardson coached to be shot to death in the last four months.

The 18-year-old was sitting in a parked car with two women at about 8 p.m. when an unidentified shooter opened fire. Everyone inside the car ran in different directions, but a source said Wright’s pants slipped down, catching him as he tried to run. He was shot in the leg and fell to the ground. Then he was shot in the head before the gunman fled.

Chicago police spokesman John Mirabelli said Tuesday morning that Wright did not have any documented gang affiliations.

Richardson coached Wright in 2011, the second of his two year stint with the team. He called Wright “a good kid” and “a decent player.”

“All he wanted to do was kick, kick, kick,” Richardson said.

Richardson remembers Wright at practice, laughing with him about the time he took off with the ball against his coach’s call and then immediately coughed it up. He remembers Wright punting the ball to his teammates, and then teasing them after they fumbled.

“He recovered the fumble and he ran off the field,” Richardson said with a deflated laugh. “Then he said, ‘I’m keeping the ball.’”

Wright had to leave the team last year when he was unable to attend practices for personal reasons, Richardson said. Wright, of the 10800 block of South Racine, had transferred to an alternative school, but even after he left, Richardson said he still came to practices to see the senior players, his friends.

“He was a great teammate,” Richardson said. “He was a pretty popular kid.”

Richardson said to his knowledge Wright, a high school senior, was on track to graduate.

“He was always positive with me,” Richardson said. “He never had a bad attitude.”

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