(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — An 81-year-old woman and her daughter and son were found shot to death Tuesday inside a home in Morgan Park on the Far South Side.
They were discovered around 5 p.m. in the home in the 11300 block of South Green Street, Chicago police said.
Arteria Riley, 81, was shot in the right side of the head, police and the Cook County medical examiner's office said.
Her daughter, Thomas Ann Riley, 64, and her son, Ruben Riley, 61, were shot in the right side of their bodies, officials and the medical examiner's office said.
Tuesday evening, a dozen people, mostly family, gathered outside the home. Activist Andrew Holmes told reporters the family was incredibly tight-knit and kept in close contact with each other.
Holmes said family members suspect this could have been the result of a home invasion, likely in the previous 24 hours.
"Why destroy this family?" Holmes said at the scene. "This was the matriarch of this family, the head of this family. Why take their life?"
A neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said the three family members have lived together in that house for a long time. The neighbor was shocked to come home from work to police cars out front, saying it has always been a quiet block with not much going on.
Thomas Ann Riley worked as a secretary and finance manager for the last seven years at Saint Philip Neri School, a Catholic elementary school in South Shore.
"Ms. Riley was the face of our school," the school said in a letter to families Wednesday morning. "She was the person who greeted every student and parent who entered the building. It was impossible to come to SPN and not encounter Ms. Riley. She was warm, yet firm with everyone she met, and she knew everyone in our community. She was an integral part of what made our school special."
Police said no one was in custody.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2022. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
