CHICAGO_Chicago basketball star Dwyane Wade's cousin was shot dead while she was pushing her baby in a stroller Friday afternoon near an elementary school in the Parkway Gardens neighborhood, according to police and a family spokesman.
Nykea Aldridge, 32, and a man were walking in the 6300 block of South Calumet Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. when two men approached and someone began firing at the man, said police and the family spokesman.
The woman was hit in the head and the arm and taken to Stroger Hospital, where she died, police said. The baby was not hurt, and a relative came to the scene and took the child, police said.
The Cook County medical examiner's office identified Wade's cousin as Nakiya Aldridge of the 6300 block of South Calumet Avenue. She was pronounced dead at 4:15 p.m. at Stroger, according to the office.
Aldridge had gone to register her children at Dulles School of Excellence when the shooting happened, said Rev. Edward Jones Jr., a spokesman for the family.
The school is next to the Parkway Gardens apartment complex where Aldridge had lived for about four months, Jones said.
Aldridge is the daughter of Wade's mom's sister, the pastor said. He said Aldridge had four children, the youngest just a couple weeks old.
"(She was a) Christian woman, a loving mother, and somebody who aspired to make a life for herself and her family," Jones said.
On Friday afternoon, seven yellow markers marked the spent shell casings police found in the alley behind the apartment complex. A group of children played basketball near the crime scene.
Outside the emergency room at Stroger Hospital, family members stood in a circle and held hands as they prayed for Aldridge. Some family members left work to go directly to the hospital, still wearing their work clothes. Afterward, some family members wiped their eyes. Among the family members at the hospital was Wade's mother, JoLinda Wade.
"Even though this tragedy has hit our family, we will continue our focus to come against the violence in the city of Chicago," Jones said. "We will continue to pray, and we ask for prayers as we pray for everyone who has to go through this type of violence."
It's not the first time a relative of Wade, who signed with the Chicago Bulls as a free agent in the off season, has been shot.
In late March 2012, Wade's nephew Darin Johnson was shot twice in the leg when two gunmen opened fire in a South Side convenience store. One man was killed and five, including Johnson, were injured.
A few days later, Wade, then playing with the Miami Heat, took to the court with a special message written on his shoe: "Praying for Darin."
"I played for him and with him in mind," Wade said in his statement. "I was 9 years old when he was born. I was an uncle at 9 years old."
Police say they believe the shooting at the Bishop Golden store in the 1400 block of West 79th Street was gang-related. Two hooded men jumped out of an SUV, walked into the small store and opened fire, police said. Johnson was released from the hospital.
Dwyane Wade's World Foundation, which backs community-based organizations that help children in at-risk situations, has worked with the Rev. Michael Pfleger in fighting violence in the Gresham neighborhood.
Wade voiced frustration about violence.
"A lot of work that I do in the community in Chicago is about (gun violence) and to have a family member, my nephew, be involved in it, it's sad," Wade said in his statement. "It hurts your heart to think about not only your family but other families going through it. I'm just glad that he's fine and hopefully he recovers. ... You never expect to get a call like that."
Johnson is the son of one of Wade's sisters. He lives in the south suburbs but was visiting his father in the Gresham neighborhood.
Also Friday, about 6:15 p.m., a 55-year-old man was fatally wounded in the city's Uptown neighborhood. That shooting happened in the 900 block of West Wilson Avenue, said Officer Michelle Tannehill, a Chicago police spokeswoman.
The man was shot in the upper right arm and was taken in critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, Tannehill said.
Earlier Friday, two men were wounded in shootings in the Hyde Park and South Shore neighborhoods.
About 1:45 p.m., one of the men was shot in the 1500 block of East 60th Street, Sweeney said.
The 23-year-old man suffered a wound to the leg and was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was listed in fair condition, Sweeney said.
The other man was shot about 12:40 p.m. in the 7400 block of South Kimbark Avenue, said Officer Nicole Trainor, a police spokeswoman, citing preliminary reports.
The man, believed to be 25, suffered a graze wound to the head. His friend drove him to the University of Chicago Hospital, and he was later taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, Trainor said.
His condition was not available.
