Darius Oliver / Photo from DNAInfo.com/chicago
BY WILL HAGER
Homicide Watch Chicago
Darius Oliver was fatally shot outside an Uptown church more than six months ago, but the killing still “feels so fresh” to his mother.
“I’m still at a loss for words,” said Oliver’s mother, Sabrina McMathis.
Oliver was shot Aug. 19, 2013, when two people inside a white vehicle opened fire near North Sheridan Road and West Wilson Avenue — striking Oliver and four others, prosecutors said.
The 21-year-old died four days later at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, authorities said. The four other wounded survived the attack.
McMathis said Oliver always put himself before others and attempted to push people away from the spray of gunfire before he was shot.
“He was very sensitive to the needs of other people,” McMathis said. “He was someone who would do anything he could to help.”
McMathis donated Oliver’s organs, something she said her son would have wanted her to do.
Oliver briefly studied at Le Cordon Bleu and had a passion for cooking — especially pork chops, McMathis said.
He would often give leftover food to the homeless near the train, McMathis said.
In November, 21-year-old Kelsky Patterson was formally charged with murder in Oliver’s death.
“The thing that hurts the most is I don’t know why he took my son’s life,” McMathis said. “I don’t know if he meant to take my son’s life.”
Patterson, who has a tattoo of a machine gun on his forehead, was already being held at Cook County Jail awaiting trail for Sept. 19 Uptown shooting that left a 14-year-old boy and 22-year-old man wounded.
Judge Laura Sullivan ordered Patterson held on an additional $1 million bond on the murder charge.
“I hope the family of the guy who killed him can find peace in themselves,” McMathis said.