Damien “Lil Slay” Santoyo, who recently turned 14, was killed in a Pilsen neighborhood drive-by shooting early Sunday on the South Side.
14-year-old Damien Santoyo had recently moved to Chicago from Texas, where he played junior high football. He was killed in a drive-by shooting early Sunday. | Facebook
About 2:35 a.m., Damien was standing on a porch with two other boys in the 1700 block of South Newberry Avenue, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
A vehicle drive past, people inside started yelling gang slogans and firing shots, police said.
Damien was shot in the head, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:50 a.m., authorities said. The other boys were not injured.
Damien, who lived in the Ashburn neighborhood on the Southwest Side, graduated from 8th grade last spring. He played football and was not involved in gang activity, family members said.
They said he had four siblings and had moved to Chicago from Texas last summer. He would have begun high school next month.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with funeral expenses.
Lisa Lujano, who started the page, wrote of Damien:”He had a beautiful heart and many of those who truly knew him would agree. He had the most perfect smile and wonderful attitude.
“But Damien’s life was not always easy he had lost his father at the age of 10 to an auto accident which would changed his life forever. This was a tough time for Damien but despite the odds he still continued to thrive in school and also find a new passion for football. He would often talked about how anxious he was to start high school this coming fall to join the School’s football team.”
Community activist Raul Montes Jr. has offered a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Anyone with information on the shooting can call Chicago Police Department’s Area Central detectives or 1-800-U-TELL-US to submit a tip anonymously.
—Chicago Sun-Times Wire and Homicide Watch Chicago