BY SAFIYA MERCHANT
Homicide Watch Chicago
Nearly a week after Eddie Murphy was gunned down on a Humboldt Park street, his mother still listens to a voicemail from her son.
Police found Murphy dead with multiple gunshot wounds to the head on a sidewalk in the 600 block of North Springfield Avenue about 12:30 a.m. Oct. 9, authorities said. Police said Murphy had gang affiliations.
“RIP EDDIE” was spray painted on the sidewalk near Murphy’s home in the 5400 block of West Iowa Street. His mother, Tarinda Henderson, used her feet to scrape away wet leaves from the graffiti Tuesday afternoon.
Inside Murphy’s home, a bright light bulb illuminated dozens of family photographs on the walls. Outside, plastic garbage bags protected a memorial of posters and stuffed animals from the rain.
Henderson cried as she remembered her son. She said Murphy, who just turned 21 in August, was always asking her for a few dollars — even after she gave him some.
“He always wanted more, he couldn’t accept what he got,” Henderson said.
Cousin Tyries Henderson, 20, sat at his grandmother’s table and reminisced about Murphy. The pair were close growing up.
“Once you meet Eddie, you’ll never forget him,” said cousin Tyries Henderson.
Murphy often spoke loudly to make his presence known, Tyries Henderson said.
Family members said he had a criminal history. Tarinda Henderson said her son was changing his life — he had just registered for classes at Malcolm X College and got a job.
“He said, ‘Mama I’m doing right, I’m finna get it together,’” Tarinda Henderson said.
Tarinda Henderson said she warned her son, who had a young daughter, that the street can be a dangerous place.
“I tried to get him off the street … One time I stood outside and screaming, begging him, crying, telling him, ‘Don’t be out here,’” Tarinda Henderson said.
“And the guys would tell him, ‘Man, yo momma love you,’” she said.
Murphy is the first young member of the family to die a violent death, family said.
“[We’re] not used to kids dying …Usually, when people in our family die … they’ll be like 70-something,” Tyries Henderson said.
“We waited 21 years just to see my cousin die?,” he said.
— Contributing: Jessica Koscielniak
Photography by Jessica Koscielniak