An Illinois family is heartbroken after a mother was gunned down in a Chicago church’s vacant parking lot Friday, right in front of her teenage son, as they were walking home.
The 13-year-old boy was also shot and is now out of the hospital, but is surrounded by grieving loved ones.
The mother, identified as Kristen Carr, and son were shot near 100th Street and Oglesby Avenue in Jeffery Manor on the Far South Side, just steps away from the family’s house.
This family said they are dealing with ongoing heartbreak. Carr’s brother just buried their father and their mother passed away a few years ago. Now, he’s left to bury his only sibling and raise her son, who saw her final moments.
“He say he was telling her, you know, ‘Breathe! Breathe!’ He’s the one who called 911,” said Carr’s brother, Luther Carr IV.
That mother and son are now forever torn apart, and a new reality is slowly setting in with family.
“I can’t believe my family is part of this circle of violence, and that you’re actually standing here talking to me,” Luther said.
Carr was walking back home from the store Friday night, just as they were about to reach each other at a nearby parking lot of a church, black SUV pulled up and someone inside began firing shots toward them.
“Like any other son, he came out to meet his mom halfway,” Luther said. “Some cowards came in between them… just for no reason. They shot at him 28 times, dude!”
Luther said his 13-year-old nephew was shot in his shoulder.
“I was told that my nephew was okay, so I thought everything was okay. I went to the hospital to see about him, and literally 10 feet before I get in the hospital at Comer’s, I get a call from a friend saying my sister was shot, also,” Luther recalled.
Kristin was shot in the hip and taken to hospital with a critical injury. She later died.
“She was a great mother, always on her boys. She made sure they were on the right path,” Luther said.
She leaves behind three sons. The youngest is only 4-years-old and is still waiting on his mom to come home.
“I don’t even know how I’m going to – how do you tell a 4-year-old,” Luther said. “It won’t go unanswered. You took somebody a lot of people loved away from us for no reason.”
Carr’s brother said she was supposed to turn 42 years old on Christmas Day, but instead of celebrating, her brother said his family will be mourning as police continue to search for her killer.
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