Martrell Ross / Photo from Facebook
BY ANGELIQUE WHITE
Homicide Watch Chicago
Martrell Ross enjoyed rap music and dancing, his uncle said.
Ross, 32, was fatally shot about 3:50 a.m. Sunday in an alley in the 800 block of North Orleans Street, authorities said. The shooting happened near nightclubs hosting Lollapalooza afterparties for rappers Nas and Big Boi.
Ross was a polite, good-looking man with a creative mind, said Ross’ uncle, Curtis Gross Sr.
“I raised him when he was younger after his father passed,” Gross said. “I took him under my wing, he was over my house every weekend and I was like his dad.”
Gross said Ross enjoyed rapping and dancing, even though he was not a good dancer when he was younger.
“I thought he was never going to learn how to dance, but he did, and now he’s actually pretty good..better than me even,” Gross said.
Authorities said Ross was killed on the same block as the nightclub Bodi, where rapper Nas was scheduled to host a party at the club following his Saturday Lollapalooza performance, according to the club’s website.
Another Lollapalooza performer, Big Boi of the duo Outkast, also played in the neighborhood Saturday night. He performed at Parliament nightclub near Chicago Avenue and Orleans Street, about a block south of Bodi.
Police said officers were on patrol in the area when they heard gunshots about 3:50 a.m. Sunday. Officers tried to “engage” a man fleeing scene, but failed to stop him, police said. An officer fired his gun at the man, but did not hit him, police said.
Officers found Ross, of the 300 block of South Mozart Street, dead in an alley with a gunshot wound in his abdomen, police said.
Gross believes an altercation with a young woman may have lead to the murder of his nephew.
“He was a likable person who got along with everybody,” Gross said.
However, court records indicate Ross was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a 2000 attempted murder conviction and six years in prison for a 2007 drug conspiracy conviction.
“Martrell might have had some misfortune when he was younger, but he was finally getting on the right track,” Gross said.
Nobody has been charged for the murder. Area Central detectives are investigating.