Jan. 26--LaSaunya Mitchell burst into tears while clutching a coat that had been removed from a Lansing apartment where, according to police, 18-year-old Summer Mitchell had been found dead Sunday with a gunshot wound in her chest.
"This is the coat I bought her for Christmas," LaSaunya Mitchell said Monday outside the apartment in the 17700 block of Commercial Avenue where Summer had lived. LaSaunya said she was Summer's stepmother and had raised her since she was 3.
Summer Mitchell was found dead about 11:20 a.m. Sunday after Lansing police responded to a "medical emergency," police said. Late Monday afternoon, police were still investigating the death with the help of Illinois State Police.
Results from an autopsy conducted Monday by the Cook County medical examiner's office were pending, police said in a news release. No other information about the investigation was provided.
Family members said Summer shared the apartment with her boyfriend. They said that they have not been in contact with the boyfriend since Summer's death and that Summer's car is missing.
LaSaunya Mitchell said Summer was a friendly, outgoing individual who was a senior at Kenwood Academy in Chicago. She was taking classes online to increase the number of credits toward graduation, and she had recently purchased a dress for prom.
"She loved going to school," LaSaunya Mitchell said. "She was a great student, a great student."
Chicago Public Schools officials did not return calls for comment.
"She was the best person ever," LaSaunya Mitchell said. "She always wanted her life to be just a little bit better."
Summer Mitchell, who had been working at a discount store in Lansing for three months, spent her free time watching police shows and programs on the Lifetime network, LaSaunya Mitchell said. She wanted to be a police officer.
"Yup," said her uncle, Andrew Holmes. "She wanted to be in law enforcement."
He said Summer, the youngest daughter of Calvin Mitchell's 15 children, was "the spark of the family; she always kept a smile."
But LaSaunya said things changed when Summer moved from the family's South Side neighborhood and followed her boyfriend to the south suburbs.
"To keep her from being late to school, we bought her the car on her birthday," she said. "Now we can't find the car, we can't find him.
"We can't do anything for my baby," she said.
LaSaunya Mitchell said the family called for emergency medical help Sunday morning after the mother of Summer's boyfriend called them, saying Summer was injured.
Calvin Mitchell, arriving later Monday afternoon to assist the dozen family and friends gathered to help remove Summer's belongings, tearfully told reporters Summer "was somebody I loved that I lost."
Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call 708-895-7150.
