ANTONIO'S
RESPONSE
WHEN THE LINE HAS BEEN CROSSED
PRESS RELEASE & NEWS CONFERENCE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Herman Nelson
August
17th, 2015 Antonio’s Response Committee
Co-chair
(815) 210-5797
Killed at 9 years old – A community
response birthed on the anniversary of Antonio Smith's violent death
One year ago, on a sunny
afternoon on August 20th, 2014, a nine-year-old
boy had a dispute with a sibling over a cupcake and sprinted out the door of
his Chicago home.
Less than an hour later, only a few
blocks from his home, Antonio Smith had been fatally shot, reportedly the
youngest victim of street gang violence that year. Some thought he might have
been heading toward his grandfather's house, just a block away on the other
side of the railroad tracks.
Within a month, in a triumph of
police work and help from outraged residents of the Greater Grand Crossing
community, four suspects had been identified and charged with first-degree
murder. Police said the reputed gang
members had been looking to shoot members of a rival Gangster Disciples faction
in the 1200 block of East 71st Street and,
thinking that Antonio was about to warn the local gang members, shot him
instead.
But, concerned that
more needed to be done to involve the community in preventing such crimes and
supporting the victims when they occur, a group of community leaders (working
with Mayor Ralm Emanuel and Cook County Board President, Toni Preckwickle Mid-South
C.A.R.E. Collaborative) formed Antonio's Response.
Envisioned as an Amber Alert,
followed by community action on multiple fronts, Antonio's Response begins with
a nine-day program of community involvement and support for the victim's family
and concludes with participation in the criminal justice process, until the case
is resolved.
Want to know more about our vision? A news
conference will be held August 20th, 2015, the anniversary of Antonio Smith's
death,
to introduce Antonio's Response and what we hope to
accomplish. (Attachment with details
will follow.) The news conference will be
held at the home of his grandfather, 1321 E. 71st
Place (west of Stony Island Avenue and south of 71st Street). A candlelight
vigil will follow at 7 p.m., at the same location.
www.Aresponse.org
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