April 02--Charles Williams flicked his cigarette and leaned on the hood of a car, staring into space, a few feet from the place where one of his best friends was shot to death early Thursday in the West Englewood neighborhood.
"I'm hurting," Williams said, shaking his head. "I'm hurt."
Police said a 36-year-old man, identified by family and friends as Charles "Chili" Gray, was shot several times around 2:05 a.m. in the 2100 block of West 71st Place.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, just outside his mother's house.
Police said the 36-year-old got into an argument with another man who then pulled out a gun and opened fire.
The gunman fled in a white sedan, and as of early Thursday, no one was in custody in connection to the fatal shooting.
Williams said he was on the phone with Gray when he was shot. He said Gray, a friend since childhood, was on his way to a gas station to buy cigarettes when he pulled over next to his mother's house.
"I heard people talking real loud (in the background)," Williams said. "Then I just heard shots like 'ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.' I heard him screaming."
Williams, who lives about a block from Gray, said he bolted from his house after he heard gunfire and discovered Gray on the ground.
"I still got his blood on my hands," Williams said, going quiet.
At the scene, police officers blocked off a portion of 71st Place west of South Hoyne Avenue with red tape. Several officers, with flashlights, inside the crime scene examined Gray's body.
Family members and friends of Gray gathered near the scene, trying to console each other.
"Somebody is gonna pay for this," one man screamed to no one in particular several times. Another man leaned on a car hood, sobbing uncontrollably.
Some people were angry at police, wondering why Gray's body was laying outside for a long time.
"Somebody help him. Pick him up," a man yelled.
Family and friends described Gray as a hardworking man who loved spending time with his family. He worked as a truck driver and had two children, said his mother Berty Gray.
Berty Gray, 61, said she was in her house after coming home from work when she heard gunshots. She said Gray was temporarily staying with her and was out with friends Wednesday night.
When she went outside to investigate, she said she couldn't imagine finding her only child dead.
"I cried," she said, reached by phone Thursday morning. "I cried."
Berty Gray said she has lived in West Englewood for over 40 years and seen the neighborhood deteriorate over time. But this was the first time her family has been affected by gun violence, she said.
"I hope they find whoever did this," she said.
"He touched a lot of people," said Terrell Reese, another longtime friend of Gray, as he stood near the shooting scene Thursday. "He sometimes would talk a lot. ... But he had a good heart. He'd always be there to help you out.
"My heart hurts."
Tribune reporter Quinn Ford contributed.
