Keyon Boyd | Homicide Watch Chicago

Pastor calls Keyon Boyd a 'selfless' student and talented athlete who 'really knew the value of serving others'

Elizabeth Czapski — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 14:08:08 -0500

Keyon Boyd/Family photo

By ELIZABETH CZAPSKI
Homicide Watch Chicago

When Keyon Boyd was very young, his aunt nicknamed him "Smiley" because he was always grinning. "He was the family’s comedian," his mother Tywone Lee said. "He was a funny, outgoing person."

But he had a serious side as well, and was planning to use his education, faith and athletic talent to make a better life for himself and his family.

"He was a young man that I could depend on if I needed anything to be done at the church," the Rev. James Brooks, senior pastor at Harmony Community Church where the family worshipped, said. He was "just a selfless young man that really knew the value of serving others."

Boyd, whose other nickname was "Kaydoe," graduated from Charles Houston High School on the South Side and was planning to study at Heartland Community College.

But he was shot and killed on July 26, 2016, in the Austin neighborhood that left two other teens wounded.

The group was standing on the sidewalk, one on a bicycle, in the 100 block of North Laporte Avenue about 11:10 a.m. when at least two male suspects emerged from an alley and fired more than a dozen shots, according to Chicago Police and witnesses.

Keyon Boyd/Family photo

Boyd, 18, was shot in the shoulder and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:59 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. A 17-year-old boy was shot in the shoulder and a 13-year-old boy was shot in both legs, but both later recovered.

Lee said Boyd had gone out around 10 a.m. A friend later told her that some kids had been shot around the corner, but Lee did not know that one of them was her son.

But moments later, Lee's sister ran into the house screaming that Keyon had been shot. Lee rushed to the hospital after seeing that her son was not at the crime scene, and was initially told that her son was alive and in surgery.

Once she had identified herself, a detective told her that her son had passed away, Lee said.

Brooks said he will never forget the day he got the call that Keyon had been killed.

Keyon Boyd and his mother Tywone Lee/Family photo

"It was devastating," he said, because Boyd's potential "to develop into something great" was now lost.

Brooks gave the eulogy at Boyd's funeral, which he said was standing-room only and "filled with love and joy."

That was Lee's goal.

"I wanted to highlight the love that [Keyon] showed to everybody," she said. "People that I never even knew my son knew ... came [to the funeral]."

In addition to the funeral, a memorial service was conducted at the crime scene the day after the shooting.

Lee said Boyd, one of five siblings who was especially close to his older brother, had a "bright future" in basketball. The sport was his passion—he played every day, both for the park district and at school.

Brooks also thought Boyd could have gone far on the court. The men often played together.

"He had the height, he had the athleticism, and he just had the ability to play the game; and a great knowledge of the game," he recalled.

His mother said Boyd had had a "bright future" in basketball./Family photo

Boyd was also deeply committed to his faith. When he wasn't playing basketball, he was at church.

"Even if I didn’t go sometimes, Keyon and [his siblings] would still go to church," participating in the drama and youth ministries and volunteering at the church's food pantry every Wednesday, Lee said.

After Boyd's death, the church held a "huge tribute" to him, as well as a birthday party on his birthday, the Rev. Dr. Lynda Swan-McClendon, Harmony's youth pastor, said. The church has also offered counseling and support to Boyd's family and the community at large.

And when the pastors decided they needed to do something more to help youth in the community, they started a tutoring program in Boyd's honor.

"The question is always, when something like this happens, is what will we do, what will be our response? And our response was to start a tutoring program," Brooks said.

Boyd's death, he said, "has not been in vain for our church."

Keyon Boyd/Family photo

The program, Brooks said, is designed to help children academically, emotionally and spiritually; and to give them lifelong literacy skills. The church brings in professionals from various fields to tutor kids, Brooks and Swan-McClendon said. The participants get a meal at every meeting and receive a monthly $25 dollar stipend if they do well in school.

"[Keyon] didn’t let the streets take him down. He fought back" through his education and his faith, Swan-McClendon said.

Through the program, Swan-McClendon hopes to give the children "a fighting chance out of disparity."

Brooks said he wants to give the youth in the community a sense of belonging and support through the church.

No one is in custody for Boyd's murder, but Lee is determined not to give up on catching the killer. She said she knows very little—only that her son was caught in two shooters' crossfire. One of the shooters had dreadlocks and was wearing a white shirt, and the other was wearing a black hoodie, she said.

Lee hopes that someone with information will come forward. She is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

"Any time you know something and you don’t say something, silence is always guilty," Lee said. "If you know who did something and you won’t say it, you’re guilty as well, because you won’t even speak up.

"I just want justice. It won’t bring my son back at all, but at least it’ll give me some closure that whoever did it won’t be able to harm anybody else."

WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 19 killed in Chicago violence, seven during bloody final weekend of July

Jeff Mayes — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 16:00:57 -0500

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

Sun-Times file photo

At least 19 people were victims of violence in Chicago last week, and while there were fewer homicides in July that in June, according to Chicago Police statistics, the city is still a large in increase over last year.

There were 65 homicides in Chicago in July, according to police. There were 71 homicides in June and 66 in May.

That brings the year's total to 381 homicides as of July 31, up about 44 percent from last year, when the city had 264 murders through July 31.

Police said 2,394 people have been shot in the city so far in 2016, including 441 in July. In the same time period last year, 1,564 people had been shot.

July was capped by a bloody weekend that saw 51 people shot, seven of them fatally.

In the week's final homicide, Jeffery Arnold Jr. was shot to death Sunday evening in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. The 20-year-old was standing in the 3000 block of West Fifth Avenue at 5:28 p.m. when three males got out of an SUV and began shooting, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Arnold was shot in the head, and died at Mount Sinai Hospital.
A west suburban couple were killed in a murder-suicide Sunday afternoon in Austin. A man shot his wife as she came out of church in the 5700 block of West Chicago Avenue about 2 p.m., then shot himself in the mouth, according to police and the medical examiner's office.
The woman, identified as 38-year-old Trinyce L. Sanders-Wilson, was pronounced dead at the scene. The man, 40-year-old Roshaun D. Wilson, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died minutes later, authorities said. They both lived in Broadview.
A man was shot to death early Sunday in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. About 1 a.m., 27-year-old Latrell Gipson was walking on the sidewalk in the 200 block of North Kostner when he heard shots and felt pain, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Gipson was shot in the head and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 1:10 a.m.
A 21-year-old man was shot to death in the Woodlawn neighborhood Saturday evening. About 7:15 p.m., he was sitting in a vehicle parked in the 6600 block of South Champlain when an SUV pulled up and someone inside opened fire, hitting him multiple times, according to police. The man was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he later died. His identity had not been released as of Tuesday afternoon.
A woman was shot to death, another woman was wounded, and two more were stabbed during a fight early Saturday in Austin. The four women got into a fight with another group of women about 3:20 a.m. in the first block of North Leclaire Avenue, according to police.
Marteace Rhone, 27, was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. A 21-year-old woman shot in the left ear was taken to a hospital. A 28-year-old woman was stabbed in the left hand and took herself to West Suburban Medical Center, and another 28-year-old woman was stabbed in the left wrist and right arm, and took herself to Rush Oak Park Hospital. Their conditions were stabilized.
A 21-year-old man was shot to death Friday evening in Ashburn. About 7:15 p.m., Ural J. Durant was standing near an SUV parked in the 2400 block of West 79th Street when two people walked out of a gangway and started shooting at the vehicle, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Durant was shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. The SUV, which had been reported stolen, sped away and crashed into a building down the street at 79th and Artesian, police said. An unknown number of people inside it ran away. It wasn’t clear if Durant was the intended target.
A 17-year-old boy was shot to death in the Chatham neighborhood Friday evening. About 5:45 p.m., officers responding to a call of shots fired in the 700 block of East 82nd Street found Denear Dashaun Scott lying on a sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to authorities. Scott was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead.
Paul Farlinger was was killed and another man injured in a drive-by shooting Friday afternoon in the Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side. The victims were in the 2000 block of North Laporte at 2:42 p.m. when a vehicle approached and someone inside fired shots, according to police.
Farlinger, 49, was struck in the abdomen and shoulder, and was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. A 21-year-old man was shot in the ankle, and was taken in good condition to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, authorities said.
A man was shot to death Friday morning in the Englewood neighborhood. At 5:58 a.m., officers responded to a call of a person shot in the 6500 block of South Peoria and found the man, thought to be in his 20s, unresponsive, according to police. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name had not been released as of Tuesday afternoon.
A 17-year-old boy was fatally shot in the South Chicago neighborhood Thursday night. Demarius Roseman was in the 8000 block of South Escanaba about 10:40 p.m. when someone in a nearby vacant lot shot him, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Roseman was taken to South Shore Hospital, where he was pronounced dead 25 minutes later.
Two men were shot — one fatally — in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on Thursday night. The two were standing in the 7700 block of South Loomis about 10:15 p.m. when someone got out of a white van and opened fire, police said.
Johnathan Lane, 23, was shot in the head, and a 25-year-old was shot in the abdomen, according to authorities. Both were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in serious condition. Lane was pronounced dead at 4:05 p.m. Friday, according to the medical examiner’s office.
A 19-year-old man died one day after he was shot in the head Wednesday afternoon in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. Officers responded to a person shot in the 4000 block of West Van Buren at 2:26 p.m. and found Demetrius Paskel with a gunshot wound to the head, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Paskel was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:43 p.m. Thursday, according to the medical examiner’s office. Police said Paskel was standing on the sidewalk when someone walked up, pulled out a handgun and fired shots. The shooter then ran away eastbound.
A man and woman were killed and two other people wounded in a shooting early Thursday at a Back of the Yards neighborhood block party; and a teenage girl who witnessed the shooting suffered an asthma attack and died.
At 12:18 a.m., an altercation broke out over a parking space in the 800 block of West 50th Place, and someone started shooting, according to police. Denzel M. Childs, 25, was shot in the neck, head and chest; and died at Stroger Hospital. Kayana Q. Armond, 34, was shot in the neck and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

A 21-year-old woman suffered a gunshot wound to the left hand and was also taken to St. Bernard Hospital, while a 25-year-old woman was taken to Stroger Hospital with gunshot wounds to the back. Both of their conditions stabilized, police said. Jessica Williams, 16, witnessed the shooting and suffered an asthma attack, authorities said. She was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 2:05 a.m.
A 32-year-old man was shot to death Wednesday afternoon in West Englewood. Keith Jackson was driving in the 2000 block of West 68th Place about 1:30 p.m. when someone on foot opened fire on his vehicle, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Jackson was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead half an hour later, authorities said. He died of a gunshot wound to the neck.
A woman was shot to death early Wednesday in the South Chicago neighborhood. Africa S. Bass, 23, was walking on the sidewalk in the 8700 block of South Burley about 12:05 a.m. when someone nearby in a black SUV fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.
Bass, who had just moved to the block where the shooting occurred, was shot in the back and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
An 18-year-old man was killed and two teenage boys wounded in a shooting Tuesday morning in Austin. The group was standing on the sidewalk in the 100 block of North Laporte Avenue about 11:10 a.m. when two males emerged from an alley and fired shots, according to police. The suspects ran northbound after the shooting.
Keyon Boyd, 18, was shot in the shoulder and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died less than an hour later. A 17-year-old boy was shot in the left shoulder and was also taken to Stroger; and a 13-year-old boy was shot in both legs and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. Both of their conditions were stabilized.
A man was killed and a woman critically injured in a shooting Monday afternoon in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood. Vincent Davis Sr., 43; and a 22-year-old woman were sitting in a vehicle at 4:24 p.m. in the 6600 block of South Michigan when someone opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner's office.
Davis suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, the medical examiner's office said. The woman suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was taken in critical condition to Christ Medical Center.
Jonathan Mills, a standout basketball player at North Lawndale and Southern Miss, was shot and killed Monday afternoon near his former West Side high school. The 26-year-old was outside a store in the 4100 block of West Roosevelt Road at 1:27 p.m. when someone approached and opened fire, according to police. Mills suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was dead at the scene.
Mills, the father of two daughters, played with Southern Miss in the NCAA Tournament in 2012. After college, he played basketball overseas. The 2009 North Lawndale graduate helped lead the Phoenix to the 2008 Class 2A state championship and the 2009 city title.

On Thursday, Travell Taylor, 24, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the shooting.

The week's homicide total could increase as officials investigate the death of a woman found Wednesday afternoon in a garbage bag in a Chatham neighborhood garage. She was identified as a 20-year-old Shante Bohanan, who had been reported missing on Sunday.

About 3 p.m. Wednesday, officers responding to a report of a body in the 500 block of East 92nd Street found her in a garage. Sources said the body was discovered in a garbage bag. An autopsy on Bohanan, who went by “Te Te,” was inconclusive, with results pending further investigation.

18-year-old Keyon Boyd killed, two other teenagers wounded in shooting in Austin

Jeff Mayes — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 10:18:58 -0500

Keyon Boyd was killed and two other teenagers were wounded in a shooting Tuesday morning in the Austin neighborhood.

The group was standing on the sidewalk, one on a bicycle, in the 100 block of North Laporte Avenue about 11:10 a.m. That's when at least two males emerged from an alley and fired more than a dozen shots, according to Chicago Police and witnesses. The suspects ran northbound after the shooting, police said.

Boyd, 18, was shot in the shoulder, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:59 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 200 block of North Leamington Avenue.

A 17-year-old boy was shot in the left shoulder and was also taken to Stroger, police said. A 13-year-old boy was shot in both legs and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. Both of their conditions were stabilized.

--Chicago Sun-Times Wire