CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Family and friends attended a vigil Monday night for a 70-year-old convenience store clerk from the Hegewisch neighborhood, who was murdered during an attempted carjacking early Monday morning.
The vigil for 70-year-old Yvonne Rudzich was held at the convenience store, Baltimore Food, Deli & Liquor, near 133rd and Baltimore, where she was known to many as “Gramma Jo.”
CBS 2 reported her family members and friends, including her stepdaughter, Holly were among those in attendance.
“You took a wonderful person away from a lot of people,” Ruzich’s stepdaughter, Holly Ruzich told CBS 2.
Alderwoman Susan Sadlowsky-Garza was a friend of the family.
“How many of us came in the morning for coffee and she was in there? Just brought a smile to people's face,” said Ald. Sue Sadlowski Garza (10th).
Surveillance video shows Ruzich parked, getting ready to go into work and talking to one of her sons through the window of his car, when two men approach around 4:30 a.m. and start shooting.
Her son was able to drive off; and Yvonne Ruzich accelerated down the street and crashed. A witness said the men came back and shot her again.
She was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead.
Ruzich retired after working 25 years in the Department of Streets and Sanitation, but continued working in Hegewisch, reporting early for work at Baltimore Food and Liquor for more than a year and a half, Police Commander Robert Rubio told the crowd at the vigil.
“You should be ashamed of yourself, and anybody who’s hiding your dirty little secret right now should be ashamed of themselves too,” Yvonne Ruzich’s daughter, Karla Ruzich told CBS 2.
The two men seen in the surveillance video got away.
“I can’t say it any better than this, they were cowards who did this,” said Chicago Police South Chicago (4th) District Cmdr. Robert Rubio.
Police have released images of the suspects from the surveillance video, but you cannot see their faces. They said one suspect wore all-black clothing and a black face mask. The second person wore a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, light pants with black shoes with white soles and a light-colored face mask.
According to CBS 2, a $2,000 reward has been put up for information leading to an arrest, and police also asking people in the neighborhood to check their surveillance videos for any video that may help in this case.
Anyone with information is asked to call Area 2 Detectives at (312) 747-8271. Anonymous tips can be submitted to www.cpdtip.com.
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