'What Message Are You Sending?': Family Of Murdered Belmont Cragin Man Wants Justice
CHICAGO (CBS) -- On this Veterans Day, a call to action from community leaders.
They're demanding the Cook County State's Attorney takes a new look at the murder of a National Guardsman over the Fourth of July weekend. CBS 2's Meredith Barack reports from the Belmont Cragin neighborhood where the 19-year-old was killed.
Chrys Carvajal was leaving a party on Lockwood Avenue when someone in a car opened fire. A memorial still sits more than four months later for the young man who had just returned home after training for the Army National Guard.
"A loving son with morals and he set an example for our future generations."
That's how Jennifer Ramirez describes her brother, Chrys. Ramirez and her mother Lourdes Lara said he was brilliant, and motivated. So it came as no surprise when he said he wanted to join the Army.
"When he mentioned to me that he wanted to join the Army, it was not a decision that I wanted to hear from him. He always tell me, 'mommy, everything is going to be okay. I'll be back,'" said Lara.
Carvajal did come home safely from boot camp only days later to be killed in his own neighborhood.
"While he was here on leave, he was preparing to defend his country, but yet died here on the streets of Chicago."
Alderman Gilbert Villegas (36th), a veteran himself and several others, including the families of other gun violence victims, stood alongside Carvajal's family Thursday outside the 25th District, demanding the Cook County State's Attorney take a new look at Carvajal's case.
They insist there is video and eyewitness testimony of the crime and that an arrest was made, but the Cook County State's Attorney's Office said there's not enough evidence to file charges.
"What message are you sending to our younger generation," asked Ramirez. "That it's okay to commit a crime and get away with it?"
Chrys' family said they will continue to fight until justice is served for a young man who was simply serving his country.
"He was so proud to be from here," Ramirez said. "Proud to be from a city that's very diverse, filled with so many opportunities and that's exactly why he also joined the National Guard."
The family said they plan to reach out to the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene and get more attention on the case.
