4-year-old boy killed in shooting was visiting Chicago, getting haircut when gunfire entered South Side home

Chicago police work the scene where a 4-year-old child was critically wounded in a shooting in the 6500 block of S. Ellis Ave. in the Woodlawn neighborhood, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. | Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

A 4-year-old boy who was visiting Chicago has died two days after gunfire entered the Woodlawn home where he was getting a haircut.

Mychal Moultry Jr. was struck twice in his head as gunfire tore through the front window 9 p.m. Friday in the 6500 block of South Ellis Avenue, according to Chicago police.

He died Sunday evening at Comer Children’s Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The child, who loved the movie “Cars,” was visiting from Alabama, the boy’s father told WGN9.

“Every parent loves him,” Mychal Moultry Sr. told the station. “Everyone would want a kid just like him.” Mychal loved softball and trips to the beach.

The boy’s father held him until paramedics arrived at the scene of the shooting, community activist Andrew Holmes said.

Outside the home, shell casings littered the front yard of a three-story apartment building that had a shattered front window.

A 34-year-old woman was taken to a hospital for lacerations related to the shooting, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Police reported no arrests.

Deputy Chief of Detectives Rahman Muhammad told reporters Monday that the child was getting his haircut when bullets entered the home. Detectives were searching for video and witnesses, he said.

Outside Comer Children’s Hospital Friday night, advocates try to console the father of a child who was shot in Woodlawn.

Mychal is the second 4-year-old to die from gun violence in Chicago this year. Makalah McKay was accidentally shot by another child who found a gun Aug. 5 in the 6400 block of South Carpenter Street in Englewood.

The child was also the second 4-year-old to be wounded in gun violence in Chicago this week.

On Tuesday, a 4-year-old girl was shot and wounded while she combed a doll’s hair on the stoop of her home in Englewood. Police said she was caught in the crossfire of gunmen in two cars.

In June, a 4-year-old boy was wounded in an accidental shooting on the same block where Friday’s shooting occurred. Police said the child was hit in the hand and a 17-year-old boy was shot in the foot June 21. A 15-year-old boy seen leaving the home was arrested and charged with unauthorized use of a weapon.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

Chicago police outside Comer Children’s Hospital, where a 4-year-old boy was taken in critical condition Friday night after being shot in Woodlawn.