Nicholas Keener / Photo from Twitter
BY SUSAN DU
Homicide Watch Chicago
Roosevelt High School junior Nicholas Keener “basically had a feeling that something was gonna happen,” a friend said.
That feeling turned out to be true as Nicholas, 16, was shot in the chest while walking with a group in the 3800 block of North St. Louis Avenue about 10:30 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
Nicholas, of the 4800 block of North Hamlin Avenue, died less than an hour later at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Elitania Gutierrez, Nicholas’ classmate at Roosevelt, said he was walking to a friend’s barbecue when he was shot.
Elitania, 17, said Nicholas had posted to Facebook asking who would be at his funeral if something happened. His friends didn’t take the post too seriously — joking about leaving blunts in his casket and burying him under the Gucci store, she said. Nicholas was shot dead a short time later.
Earlier that day, Nicholas confided in Elitania that he was afraid that if he were attacked he wouldn’t be able to run away because his ankle was hurt, she said.
“Lately, here in Chicago, everything’s been crazy, so he was really trying to be safe, trying to look out for others, especially for his … not blood brothers, but he has a brotherhood with three other people, his main people,” Elitania said.
Elitania said Nicholas was never involved in gangs, but police said detectives are investigating if the shooting was gang related.
Elitania remembered Nicholas fondly as someone who was always smiling, dancing and making jokes. She said he kept out of trouble and enjoyed playing basketball and bicycling — especially Critical Mass, a monthly biking event through Downtown.
“Biking was his thing,” Elitania added. “It was a spiritual thing. When he was stressed out, he would go. He’d say, ‘Wow I really needed this.’”
A bicycle was found at the crime scene.
Scene where Nicholas Keener was fatally shot / Photo by NVP News Video
As a student, Nicholas was “ambitious but lazy,” Elitania said. His goal was to graduate, and though he occasionally struggled with attendance, he was loved by teachers and his fellow classmates, she said.
“He had a diverse friend group. That’s the thing about him,” Elitania said. “That’s why everybody’s hurting so much in school, for the simple fact that he didn’t care who you were, he didn’t care what race you were. he didn’t care about nothing. If he messed around with you, you were his friend right away.”
In the days following Nicholas’ death, his friends at Roosevelt set up a fundraiser in support of his family. His two little brothers are staying with family friends as his mother and grandmother make funeral arrangements with the help of Roosevelt students.
“His family wasn’t the richest, so we’re trying to give him a proper burial,” Elitania said.