CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Cook County Crime Stoppers was passing out flyers on the West Side today, attempting to help solve the murder one year ago of a 14-year-old boy. Nearby, there was another crime scene and a gathering for someone else who had been murdered.
Homan Square is just south of the Eisenhower Expressway near Independence Boulevard. This is where 14-year-old Maleek Smith was shot to death on April 14 of last year.
He was with his brother and a friend and they were chased. No one seems to know why.
Maleek stopped running and the others heard the shots.
“We need the community. We can’t just let the police handle it on their own. It has to be all of us together so that we can get this to stop. As we stand here, a half a block from us another man was killed last week, shot four times, and just a couple blocks away on our way here, another shooting occurred," said George McDade, with Crime Stoppers.
"It’s a tough neighborhood where shooting, it can’t be tolerated, it can’t be the norm.”
McDade said sometimes people who are reluctant to talk to police will talk anonymously to Crime Stoppers. Smith’s mother, Sheena Dunn, said someone knows something.
She’s hopeful that Crime Stopper’s effort will produce new leads for police. It offers cash rewards of up to $15,000.
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