Sept. 07--The 23-year-old man who was shot and killed early Sunday morning on Chicago's Near West Side played college football and was involved in his local church, family said.
LaVell Caron Southern grew up in the South Chicago neighborhood and played football all four years at Mount Carmel High School on Chicago's South Side before playing as a defensive back for Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., his aunt, Beverly Green said when reached by phone Monday.
He was named an all-area player by the Pioneer Press as a senior in high school and collected 24 tackles in seven games as a freshman in college, according to the Carthage College website.
But during his sophomore year at Carthage, he suffered a knee injury during a game which ended his football career, said Green. He had to return to Chicago for surgery, and because he wanted to be closer to his family, Green said.
"He could still do basketball, his second love, after that (injury). He was not depressed. He was a fighter," Green said.
In the last couple of months, she said, Southern worked a summer job in security at the Blue Cross Blue Shield headquarters downtown before planning on returning to school to finish up his degree.
"He's been home about three years," Green, 52, said. "To know him was to love him. He had no enemies."
Southern, of the 8800 block of South Bennett Avenue, was shot around 2:30 a.m. Sunday in front of Red Kiva in the 1100 block of Randolph Street on the Near West Side and collapsed a short distance away on Racine Avenue near City Winery, according to police. Police found him unresponsive, with gunshot wounds to the lower back and back of the head. He was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital.
According to the website for the City Winery, a restaurant that also features music, the establishment closes at midnight daily. The website for Red Kiva, a music venue, restaurant, and lounge, says the business is open from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturdays.
Another man, also 23, was shot in the left upper arm and was treated at the same hospital, according to a police report. That man told officers that the two were standing on the sidewalk when they heard gunshots and ran northbound on Racine.
A black minivan sped off westbound, an Uber driver parked on Racine told police. Southern has no apparent criminal background, according to police and court records.
Green said the slaying happened as they left a club nearby and were headed to their car. "He didn't have any confrontation in the club," she said.
"It's a tragedy," Green said.
The two men were best friends, Green said, and Southern was the godfather to the other 23-year-old's daughter. Southern was also involved in the men's ministry at Grace Apostolic Church, Green said, and played in basketball tournaments with the young men from the church and the neighborhood.
"That was his passion," Green said. "He loved basketball. He loved sports. ... He was so loved amongst his peers."
His nephews knew him as "Daddy-Vell," and the kids at his church called him, "Uncle-Vell," Green said.
"He loved kids. He loved people," she said. "He was a family young man."
Southern was also a "momma's boy," Green said, and the youngest son in a family with several brothers and sisters. The family received a phone call Sunday morning informing them of the shooting, Green said. His father is a Chicago firefighter.
"We're trying to deal with it as best we can," Green said. "We just need prayer."
