Well, you don’t need me to say how sad this really is!!! The violence that is plaguing Chicago has spun so far out of control that there is really no viable talks going on how to eradicate the problem. Some are saying bring in the military, not something I would agree with. I am all for holding the parents accountable for the actions of their wayward and out of control children.
May THIS child rest in peace!!!
Marcel Pearson, 17, shot 2 days before college orientation
Marcel Pearson, 17, was gunned down just two days before his college orientation while walking with friends in the city’s Brainerd neighborhood, officials said.
A recent graduate of Englewood’s Johnson College Prep, Pearson spent his last two years as captain of the high school’s basketball team.
Coach Stephen Gilbert said Pearson was supposed to be one of their success stories.
“He scored buckets and bunches. Leader. Never late for practice, early, leave late,” Gilbert said. “He’s just a great kid. Still in shock.”
Grief counselors were on hand at the school campus Wednesday. Pearson was as popular off the court as he was on it.
“We’re just cracking jokes of the fun times we had on the buses and at practice,” Gilbert said. “Although he was pretty cool he was a bit of a jokester. Reminiscing about the old times.”
And while police believe the shooting was gang-related, neighbors say Pearson was simply a victim of his environment and a neighborhood gone bad.
“He used to come over to my house. I had a swimming pool. Swim, I’d make BBQ, hamburgers and everything,” said Harry Smith, Pearson’s neighbor. “All these kids around here at one time or another have been at my house.”