Family crushed after stray bullet kills 7-year-old Akeem Briscoe in Humboldt Park home
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A family was devastated Thursday after a 7-year-old boy was struck and killed by a stray bullet in a Humboldt Park neighborhood home the night before.
The boy, Akeem Briscoe, was washing his hands in the bathroom of a home in the 2600 block of West Potomac Avenue Wednesday night when a bullet came through the window.
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported, police spent the day going in and out of the house and throughout the neighborhood. No one was in custody and no one had been charged Thursday afternoon.
Later on Thursday night, a balloon release was held for Akeem. Candles lined the sidewalk along Potomac Avenue where Akeem and his family lived.
The family's pain grew right along with the makeshift memorial.
"Of course I'm angry. I mean, who wouldn't be angry?" Akeem's uncle, Dwayne Dmbry, told CBS 2's Jermont Terry. "We should be able to feel safe inside our homes – you know what I mean?"
It was 8:22 p.m. Wednesday when Akeem – a son, a brother, a nephew – stepped into the bathroom in his home to wash up before dinner. A bullet flew through the window and hit him in the abdomen.
Akeem was rushed to Stroger Hospital of Cook County, where he died.
The shots are believed to have come from the alley behind the home, where multiple shell casings were found. That alley was still blocked off on Thursday.
"People out here are just shooting around - and not understanding there's people in homes, you know," Dmbry said, "and this is just not right, just shooting around - because a bullet doesn't have a name on it."
Also inside the house at the time were Akeem's 11- and 12-year-old brother and sister, along with their mom.
"She's talking," Dmbry said. "She's just angry and she's upset. She's disappointed."
Police say they do not believe anyone in the home with the boy was the intended target.
Akeem's family is uncomfortable sharing any photos of him, but telling us the support they've felt, already, means everything.
"He was a good little kid man. Didn't get a chance to experience life all the way," said Akeem's uncle, Terribia Misters. "Too much killing going around Chicago, man."
The family said the 7-year-old's father passed away earlier this month - they just laid him to rest days ago.
"Just had his wake Saturday - and now four days later, his son gets hit by a stray bullet," Misters said.
Akeem was a second grader at Walter L. Newberry Math & Science Academy, at 700 W. Willow St. in Lincoln Park/Old Town. Misters said his nephew loved school, and was looking forward to a scheduled field trip Thursday.
"He loved playing with his friends. He loved doing a bunch of other things," Misters said. "He definitely loved talking."
Akeem's uncle couldn't help but smile just thinking about him.
"Innocent young boy," Misters said. "Happy. Every day happy."
The sudden loss is weighing on Akeem's mother.
"My sister's not doing well right now. It's a tragedy, you know. I just buried his father, and now I've got to turn around and bury my nephew," Dmbry said. "It's not right)
"All we can do at this point is build each other- build each other's strength and pray for each other's strength - because right now, we don't have it," said another family member, Shantae Walker.
The family wants to see whoever is behind the shooting to be punished to the full extent of the law.
"My nephew just got hit with a stray bullet. You can die any in Chicago," Misters said. "There's no age limit to a bullet that ain't got no name on it."
Anyone with information is asked to call Area Five detectives at (312) 746-6554. Anonymous tips can also be left at CPDTIP.com.