Authorities in Illinois have released the name of the 18-year-old shot and killed by robbers who then stole her car at a gas station parking lot in Oak Park early Wednesday.
Two people approached 18-year-old Jailyn Logan-Bledsoe around 1:50 a.m., then one of them pulled out a gun and shot her in her head at the BP station at 100 Chicago Ave., police said.
The robbers took items from the woman and fled in her Chrysler, police said.
She was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office released her name Thursday morning.
Logan-Bledsoe is being remembered by some in the Oak Park area as a fierce advocate and organizer for her work in the community as well as her “brilliance” and “confidence.”
“She was a very powerful, brilliant young woman that definitely cared deeply about her community,” said Cynthia Drito, the teen’s adviser at the Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League, a youth-led community organization that has advocated for racial equality.
The OPRF High School commencement was May 28 and Logan-Bledsoe had been part of the Class of 2022.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Oak Park and River Forest High School student Jailyn Logan-Bledsoe was accosted and killed [Wednesday] during a robbery at a local gas station,” school officials said in a statement Thursday. “Please keep Jailyn’s family in your thoughts during this difficult time.”
Logan-Bledsoe was planning to attend college in Miami and pursue a career in tech, according to Drito.
Though students are on summer break, officials said in the statement that grief counselors would be available for students and staff “who may be in distress as a result of this tragedy.”
Since Logan-Bledsoe’s death, numerous community members, advocates and leaders have taken to social media to decry the uptick in violence in the area, particularly at 24-hour gas stations like the one where she was shot.
In addition to her work with ROYAL, which centered around combating police violence, LGBTQ issues and more, Logan-Bledsoe chaired the youth committee for the NAACP.
Drito said ROYAL would be advocating for the BP gas station to close earlier — around 11 p.m. — but emphasized that in addition to addressing the immediate safety concerns posed by the shooting and related incidents, community leaders and members should consider other factors that could lead to violence.
Community activist Andrew Holmes traveled to Oak Park after the shooting, saying that there is surveillance video that captured the horrific shooting and that he is working to support the victim’s family.
“You go from graduating from high school to Mother’s Day to Father’s Day and then you lose your life to these individuals,” he said.
Logan-Bledsoe recently graduated from Oak Park River Forest High School, and staff at the school say counselors have been made available to her family. Students can also sign up for counseling services in the wake of the shooting, with police continuing to work to find the killers.
“That family is going through severe pain,” Holmes said. “I’ve met friends up here that went to school with her, and they told me that this is a close-knit family, a very quiet family.”
No suspects are in custody, and an investigation remains underway.
Police asked anyone with information to call (708) 386-3800. Anonymous tips can be sent by calling (708) 434-1636 or online at www.oak-park.us/crimetip.
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