Boy, 14, Killed When Bullets Hit Will County Home
UPDATED 01/04/10 11:03 a.m.
LOCKPORT TOWNSHIP, Ill. (CBS) - A 14-year-old boy and his cousin weren't even safe in their own room in Lockport Township.
As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, Deont'e Lesley was killed when someone opened fire outside their house in the 400 block of Fairmont Avenue in unincorporated Lockport Township around 8:15 p.m. Monday. The killers fired indiscriminately into the house.
Deont'e's 17-year-old cousin was shot and wounded.
Both boys were taken to Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, where the 14-year-old was pronounced dead, Kaupas said.
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The following day, the boys' family is overcome with emotion at the senseless crime. Crime scene tape still surrounded the house as they tried to return, only to be turned away by Will County sheriff's police.
"It's crazy!" Deont'e's brother said as he sobbed uncontrollably.
Deont'e's mother, Antoinette Walker, was home with her children when the shots that claimed her son rang out around 8:15 p.m. She hit the floor, dialed 911 and immediately began to pray.
"After the shots I said, 'Javon, are you OK? Javon, are you OK?' And he said, 'Mama, yes, I'm OK,' Walker said. "And then, my sister, she yelled out, 'Deont'e, where are you at? Are you OK? Are you OK, Deont'e? And we heard no response."
Deont'e couldn't answer because he had been shot in the head. Javon ran to his younger brother, but there was simply nothing he could do.
"I started working his back, telling him to breathe, because he was still breathing," Javon Lesley said, "I didn't know he was hit twice. I didn't know he got hit in the ankle. I felt it when I grabbed him, tried to hug him, tell him to breathe."
Deont'e's cousin was grazed by a bullet, and was treated and released from Silver Cross.
Deont'e had dreams of making it to the NFL, and those dreams included his mother.
"He said, I'm going to take of you, mama, when I make it big. You'll never have anything to worry about, because I'm going to take care of you," Walker said. "I truly miss my baby. I really do."
Deont'e was playing video games when he was shot.
Sheriff's police are looking for one or two shooters, and are investigating whether the incident was linked to recent shootings in the area.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
