Albert Turnage / Submitted photo
BY CHANTELLE NAVARRO
Homicide Watch Chicago
Albert Turnage talked about going back to school because he wanted to be a positive role model for his son, his former foster parent said.
Turnage will never get the chance to watch his son grow up after the 23-year-old was fatally shot in the 1700 block of West Touhy Avenue on his son’s sixth birthday, police and family said.
Officers responding to a call of a person shot found Turnage and another man in an alley about 4:10 a.m. Feb. 25, authorities said.
Turnage, of the 1700 block of West Greenleaf Avenue, was shot in the chest and died at Presence Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston about two hours later, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The other man, 30, was shot multiple times and was treated at Saint Francis Hospital, police said.
“I know for a fact that it was not anything that was targeted against him, he was not in a gang,” said Turnage’s foster parent Katie Cangemi. “I do think that it was an act of violence related to the problems in Rogers Park.”
Cangemi met Turnage when he was just 11 years old, and provided emotional support during the boy’s battle with cancer, she said.
“He was in need of somebody to be with him through chemo everyday,” Cangemi said. “It didn’t seem right that a kid with cancer should go through that alone.”
Cangemi said the two would play “I Spy” and watch movies while he was undergoing treatment.
“He let me into his life at a really vulnerable time,” Cangemi said. “When somebody is facing possible death, that’s when we really became family.”
Turnage had several surgeries, and doctors were amazed at how he kept a positive attitude and continued to tell jokes and smile, she said.
The cancer was in remission when Cangemi got her foster parent license while Turnage was in eighth grade, she said.
“I just knew that being bounced around the system … wasn’t good for him” Cangemi said. “I feel like what he needed was a home, and he trusted me enough to provide that … we were already [like] family.”
Turnage was excited to move in with Cangemi and called her “fairy godmother,” she said.
Albert Turnage with his son, Jayden / Submitted photo
Turnage eventually dropped out of high school to help raise his son, Jayden, Cangemi said. He eventually went back to school and earned his diploma because he wanted to be a positive role model for his son. He had recently talked about going back to school to become a welder, she said.
“I’ve never seen a father so involved — Jayden got so many hugs and kisses,” Cangemi said. “There was no doubt for his love in his son.”
After Turnage left the Department of Children and Family Services system, he remained close with Cangemi and the two would often meet up for pizza, she said.
Cangemi and Turange’s family created an online fundraiser (http://www.gofundme.com/AlbertforJayden) to ensure an education in Jayden’s future.
Nobody has been charged for the killing. Area South detectives are investigating.