Vigil held for Bolingbrook home invasion shooting victims
BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (CBS) – Tributes continued to pour in for the victims of the shocking triple homicide in southwest suburban Bolingbrook on Sunday.
The community held a candlelight vigil for the victims in the village on Wednesday. CBS 2's Andrew Ramos went to Bolingbrook where the mourners gathered.
The vigil was held at the DuPage Township Center. It happened after days of mourning in the village, as many who knew the victims, and those who didn't, tried to make sense of the tragedy.
Only the sound of balloons blowing in the wind could be heard outside of the home along Lee Lane where a memorial has been growing for days.
It's where officials say the crime took place on Sunday night, when Samiya Shelton, 17, Cartez Daniels, 40, and Sanai Daniels, 9, were shot and killed. A fourth person, who has not been identified, was also wounded and remains hospitalized.
Byrion Montgomery, 17, is the suspect charged in the case. Police said he was the boyfriend of Shelton. Montgomery has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"I mean, it scares me, as a mother," said Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta. "It does scare me, but we live in a scary world right now."
Alexander-Basta was among the many in Bolingbrook grieving the victims. She said she hopes the tragedy sheds light on identifying the root causes of violence, and added everyone should be focused on making sure a tragedy like this never happens again.
"They don't know how to compartmentalize," she said. "They don't know how to deal with issues. They can't multitask, so how do we address that?"
Among the many questions that still remain is the motive. The crime itself has puzzled many who know the suspect. Neighbors described him as "polite" and "a nice boy."
"We can't continue to point fingers and point blame," Alexander-Basta said. "We need to come together and say what are the issues and how do we address them together?"
CBS 2 learned from a coworker of one of the victims that the family had a trip to go on a cruise scheduled in the coming weeks. It was something they were all looking forward to.