Isiah Hope High, father of two girls, was shot to death Saturday afternoon in the Northwest Side Cragin neighborhood.
Hope was an energetic young man who brought joy to his family, a relative said.
“Even through the tough times in life he always had a smile on his face,” High’s cousin Junior Gonzalez said.
Isiah Hope High | Facebook
The 20-year-old High was riding a bicycle at 1:17 p.m. in the 2600 block of North Long when someone in a minivan fired shots, striking him in the chest, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:02 p.m., authorities said.
A fundraising page was created on behalf of Hope’s family to pay for funeral expenses.
Hope “left behind two beautiful baby girls, countless family members, and friends. He was loved by many and deserves the best memorial we can give him,” the author of the page wrote.
“This kid was something,” said the uncle who raised Hope. “A lot of kids his age aren’t mindful of older people, but Isiah showed respect wherever he went. He had old-school values.”
Hope had attended Foreman High School and loved to play basketball, his uncle said.
“He was so proud of his daughters,” who are 1-year-old and 3-weeks-old, he said. “I remember when he told us when he was expecting his first daughter. He was so excited. He loved the fact that was a father. He strived to be a better father everyday.”
Hope lived a block from where he was shot. Area North detectives were investigating the homicide.
—Homicide Watch Chicago