Schaquille Salter / Family photo
BY ANGELIQUE WHITE
Homicide Watch Chicago
Schiquille Salter tutored local children and helped teach a youth ministries program, family said.
Salter, 23, was fatally shot as he stood outside his home in the 300 block of West 116th Street just after 9 p.m. July 6, authorities said.
Just before the shooting, Salter helped his grandmother get bags out of her car and had made a pizza to share with friends, said his aunt, Rev. Franshonn Salter. About 10 minutes later, gunfire erupted and Schiquille Salter was struck.
His grandmother found a friend hold a bleeding Schiquille Salter, his aunt said.
“I don’t think I felt anything when he was shot. I was numb, absolutely numb. … I couldn’t believe it, I still can’t believe it,” said his father, Jamal Salter.
Schiquille Salter lived with his grandmother while he attended Christian Fenger Academy High School, and later spent two years studying graphic design and business at Northern Illinois University, his aunt said.
“He took two semesters off due to financial reasons,” she said.
During the time off, Schiquille Salter worked at Popeye’s, tutored children in math and helped his aunt carry equipment around her church, family said. He also assisted in teaching a youth ministries program.
“He always had a smile on his face,” Franshonn Salter said. “I never seen him angry.”
He planned on re-enrolling at NIU in the fall, his aunt said.
“I saw him everyday, he was like my little personal assistant,” she said.
Schiquille Salter was a middle child and had a brother and two sisters, his father said.
“His favorite thing to eat when he was younger was macaroni and cheese, potatoes and ravioli,” his father said.
As an adult, he had been living with his grandmother and occasionally brought his small group of friends home for Sunday dinners, his aunt said.
“He wasn’t affiliated with gangs or drugs,” she said.
Franshonn Salter said she wants to let everyone know that Schiquille Salter is not just another statistic.
“He was my everything and he was a really good guy,” she said. “He didn’t deserve to get shot down in the street like a dog.”
Franshonn Salter said violence is prevalent in the Roseland and West Pullman communities, and she even contacted Mayor Rahm Emanuel in May about potentially bringing in the National Guard.
“It’s going to take every entity to solve the violence in area,” Franshonn Salter said. “It’s going to take the community, government and church.”
Nobody has been charged for the murder. Area South detectives are investigating.