Nykea Aldridge, a 32-year old woman, died on Chicago’s streets after being accidentally shot in the head while pushing a stroller with her newborn baby. Aldridge happens to be the first cousin of basketball star Dwayne Wade.
Aldridge was walking trough Chicago’s Parkway Gardens neighborhood to enroll her children in school when two men walked to shoot another man, and she was caught up in the middle with her 3-week old baby girl. The 32-year old mother of four got shot in the leg and the head, around 3:30 p.m in the afternoon. An ambulance transported Aldridge to the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, where she was pronounced dead soon after.
Rev. Edward Jones spoke to the press as a representation of Aldridge’s family and informed the victim had recently moved to the neighborhood to enroll her kids in the Dulles School of Excellence. Authorities have reported Aldridge’s baby girl wasn’t harmed in the incident and is currently in the custody of a caring family member.
“The whole family is racked by this loss, it’s just terrible, not just for our family but for the entire city that this continues to happen,” said Rev. Jones to the press
According to police officials, two men in custody are being questioned about the incident, but police forces continue to look for witnesses to the murder.
#EnoughIsEnough
On Friday afternoon the Chicago Bulls star announced the death of her cousin on his Twitter account
The 34-year old basketball star has been a great advocate for gun violence, especially in his hometown Chicago where the victim’s number continues to rise. The day before Nykea Aldridge was murdered, Wade participated in an ESPN talk about violence in the city.
Wade along with his mother Pastor Jolinda Wade, went to a town hall meeting in Chicago hosted by the sports channel to discuss gun violence and create more awareness on the happening.
“It’s deep-rooted, and it’s something that didn’t start today and something that’s not ending tomorrow, but we can start a conversation and start the work today and eventually we can stop it,” said Wade during the ESPN Town Hall event on Thursday.
Although the basketball star was not in town when his cousin was murdered, family members informed how devastated the star was about Aldridge’s death. Outside of the hospital family members gathered to pray for the deceased woman and gun violence in the city.
Jolinda Wade talked to the press as she held her sister and discussed the importance of fighting gun violence. The pastor announced she and her family would continue to help and empower people like the one who “senselessly shot my niece in the head.”
Aldridge’s death soon went viral, and as everyone discussed the amount of violence occurring in Chicago, Republican candidate Donald Trump tweeted about the happening, stating that the incident marked why African-Americans should vote for him in the upcoming elections.
Wayde’s family had previously been affected by the violence wave in Chicago, when Darin Johnson his nephew, was shot in the leg twice in 2012 but was able to recover.
The Chicago Tribune reports that as of Friday night a total of 2,739 people had been killed in Chicago this year with 460 deaths, just 381 homicides happened at the ends of July.
Source: Reuters