Friend: Navy vet, father of four, wanted no part of gangs

John Carpenter — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 14:00:15 -0500

US Navy veteran Jerimiah Milsap lived for his four children, and wanted nothing to do with “that world” of gang violence, a friend said Monday.

Milsap, 25, was murdered early Saturday morning on the Near West Side, shot multiple times as he stood in front of his apartment building with his brother and another man, who were shot and wounded.

“He was a good guy who was not gang connected,” said Ricky Newbern, who works at the nearby Newberry Community Center, half a block from where Milsap was shot.

Chicago Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli said Milsap did not have any documented gang affiliations, but the two men he was standing with did.

The shooting took place at about 3:15 a.m. Saturday. A dark sedan pulled up in front of the apartment building in the 1000 block of West Maxwell, and two men got out of the car and began shooting, Mirabelli said. Milsap was shot multiple times, including in the abdomen, and he was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died.

One of the other men was shot in the left leg. The other was shot in the arm. Newbern said one of the other men shot was Milsap’s brother.

A man who said he was Milsap’s brother-in-law declined to comment Monday morning.

A makeshift memorial lined a fence Monday, near the apartment building where Milsap lived. Two men, neither of whom wished to give their names, stood in the rain looking at the many pictures of Milsap.

“He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it,” one of the men said. “All he wanted to do was take care of his family.”

One of the picture showed Milsap with his four young children. Others showed him in his navy uniform.

Milsap served in the Navy from 2008 to 2012, leaving the service as a Boatswain’s Mate Seaman, according to a spokesman for the Navy. Most of his service was aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, an aircraft carrier. Among his awards and decorations were the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon.

As of Monday afternoon, no one was in custody for Milsap’s murder.

(Mallory Morales also contributed to this report.)

Jermia Milsap | Homicide Watch Chicago

Friend: Navy vet, father of four, wanted no part of gangs