CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A memorial was held Friday night for the Vietnam War veteran who died in a shopping plaza parking lot in Hyde Park during an attempted carjacking.
Those who turned out to celebrate the life of Keith Cooper, 73, included strangers and fellow veterans like Ronald Price.
"We went into a terrible situation and we survived to come back ... for a [expletive] car, his life was taken. Excuse me for the language, but his life was taken for a car," Price told CBS 2.
And the 17- and 18-year-olds charged with the crime didn't get the car after Cooper was punched in the head, allegedly by the 18-year-old Frank Harris.
"This is not a first offense for hie. I mean, he needs to suffer the consequences. He has to. That's the only way he'll learn and I'm hoping he'll learn," said Cooper's daughter, Keinika Carlton.
Harris was out on probation following a carjacking conviction in May.
"You just did this, you know, and now you're back out doing it again," Carlton continued.
The memorial was held in the parking lot of Kimbark Plaza near 53rd Street and Woodlawn Avenue, the same parking lot where Cooper died.
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