By TYLER HOLMES
Homicide Watch Chicago
Trayvon Wilson | Facebook
Trayvon Wilson may have only been 20 years old, but that never held him back from knowing what he wanted and accomplishing his goals. With a relentless determination and a passion for working hard, he lived by his own motto – “boss up!”
“He was driven. He was the person who wanted the finer things in life,” D’andre Wilson said about his younger cousin. “He was a hard worker and it paid off for him. He wanted it the legit way.”
“Boss up” means to keep working hard to make money and staying on the grind.
Wilson was a family man from a young age. He wanted to keep his relatives together by making a bigger family and taking care of everyone, according to his cousin.
“We have a small family; my auntie’s kids and my mother’s kids. We always tried to joke around and have fun. Now there’s only seven of us,” Wilson said. “We used to always joke on him about being the baby of the family.”
Trayvon Wilson | Facebook
Wilson was washing his car, which was his pride and joy, behind his home in the Gage Park neighborhood around 7:15 p.m. June 25.
Someone approached him from behind and fired multiple shots into his back. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than two hours later.
“He didn’t care for gangs,” said Naomi Cole, Wilson’s close friend. “As long as his mom and kids were good, that’s all that mattered.”
But, “When other people in Chicago see you succeeding like that–whether you did it the right way or the wrong way–they don’t like that,” Wilson said.
His death is currently under investigation, however there are no suspects or leads about who the shooter might be.
“I remember at his high school graduation, he showed up and he was the only one walking with his gown open,” Wilson said through a laugh. “He tried to get me to do the same thing. He told me, ‘man up!’”
Trayvon Wilson was very proud of his car, friends said. | Facebook
Wilson will be remembered for his smile and his laugh, according to his family.
“He loved to make people laugh with his silly jokes,” Cole said. “That boy had the funniest jokes alive. Better than Kevin Hart, I’d say.”
Trayvon was the kind of guy that when everybody was feeling down, seeing him would brighten up the day, according to Cole. “He always had the best interest at heart.”
Wilson is survived by a 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter.