May 23--A 4-year-old girl was shot in the head and two teens, a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, were injured in a West Englewood shooting outside a prom gathering Friday night, authorities said.
It happened shortly before 8 p.m. in the 7000 block of South Justine Street, said Officer Thomas Sweeney, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department. Authorities, citing preliminary information, said two of the victims were sitting in a car outside a prom gathering when another vehicle pulled up and someone inside fired shots.
Authorities said the shooting was gang-related but could not elaborate.
Four-year-old Jacele Johnson was taken to University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital, Sweeney said. Officials said her condition was serious to critical.
The boy, who was shot in the neck, was in fair condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Sweeney said.
The 15-year-old girl, who was shot in the head, was taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where authorities said she was in good condition.
The three were among at least 18 people shot between 2:45 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday.
As of early Saturday morning, family members said Jacele's condition had stabilized. Doctors tried to remove a bullet from her head, said Trennetta Gresham, the girl's mother.
"(Jacele) is a fighter," Gresham said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I have three kids, and I have no favorites. But me and Jacele have a special bond. ... That's my best friend."
The shooting happened as Jacele and her 17-year-old cousin sat inside a parked car, Gresham said.
Gresham said she stepped away from her car for a few minutes to gather her other children when the shooting happened. Gresham and her children were about to leave home after attending a graduation and prom party of a friend earlier in the evening.
Nobody was in the car's driver's seat, and the girl's mother Trennetta Gresham was not injured.
The cousin, Romare Wilson, 17, was hit in the shooting and his condition stabilized at Advocate Christ Medical Center, said Jacele's grandfather, Marvin Gresham.
"We got a beautiful city, but it has some evil people," Gresham said while standing outside next to the entrance to Comer Children's Emergency building early Saturday morning.
"Nobody knows when, where, how, why this happens," said Marcella Gresham, the wounded girl's aunt, as she stood next to Gresham, smoking a cigarette. "Senseless violence."
"All the gangbangers need to know is that they shouldn't shoot kids. That's taboo."
Fred Massey, a security guard at a mall across from the shooting, said he heard about 15 to 20 shots fired between two vehicles. The cars came to a stop near 69th Street and Ashland Avenue, Massey said.
Multiple police vehicles remained at the crime scene as of about 9 p.m. About two dozen people gathered at the scene.
"It's just so sad, it's so sad," said Makeba Stevens, who said she lives in Englewood and stopped on her way home from work.
Stevens works at Roseland Community Hospital and said what she sees of the city's violence makes her keep her own 17-year-old son at home or busy with sports as much as she can.
"All these kids, it just makes no sense," she said. "And summer hasn't even started yet."
Jeremy Gorner contributed
