Community members march for peace on Southwest Side after child killed, 10 others injured in Chicago weekend shooting
CHICAGO — Neighbors and friends gathered Monday to console the family of 9-year-old Ariana Molina, who died after a gunman opened fire on a family gathering on the city’s Southwest Side on Saturday night, leaving 10 others, including three children, injured.
Two young boys were among the 11 victims, all members of a single family, and were said Monday night to still be fighting for their lives.
Loved ones say the distraught mother of the murdered 9-year-old is still recovering after getting shot in the shoulder. Her husband, Ariana’s father, was shot in the foot.
The family had hoped to escape the violence that they say has ravaged their neighborhood, but it didn’t come soon enough.
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The devastated family is now demanding justice for Saturday’s brutal killing of an innocent child.
The slain girl’s father, Jose Molina, and loved ones were inconsolable, despite the best efforts of friends, neighbors and supporters Monday who gathered at the scene of the crime in the Back of the Yards community.
More than 100 people came Monday to honor Ariana and support her family.
“I appreciate everyone coming,” Jose Molina said. “But it won’t bring my daughter back.”
Molina said his wife could soon be released from the hospital, but the outcomes for the others, including two young nephews, are not so certain.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson in a written statement over the weekend denounced what he described as a heinous and cowardly act of wanton violence that’s left the city mourning.
Father David Kelly, a Catholic Priest, joined hundreds of other faith leaders and community organizers in a march for peace in Back of the Yards on Monday.
Marchers said they are hoping to draw attention to the tremendous need in the community to escape violence and find peace.
“These are communities that have been impacted by generational poverty, and so that’s what happens when things start to crumble and fall apart,” Kelly said.
On Monday, community members also said they’re fed up with gun violence and asked the city for help.
“We need a camera on this corner,” community member Keith Kysel said. “Not saying that cameras stop everything, but sometimes they may deter some things, or at least get more evidence that (authorities) need.
“It’s just sad that an event like this has to happen.”
Silvia Galvan also lost a child to gun violence and was there Monday to support Ariana’s family.
“I just hate that another mother has to go through this,” Galvan said. “Our lives are changed forever. There’s nothing we can do to fix this, nothing we can do to bring our children back.”
Witnesses told police that they saw a black sedan roll up to the Molina home, as the extended family celebrated a Catholic confirmation, before someone inside opened fire.
Chicago police say an investigation into the deadly shooting is ongoing. There’s a $2,000 cash reward for any information that can lead to an arrest.
Police have said they believe the shooting was targeted and appears to be gang-related.
However, the family denies that claim, saying it had no affiliations with gangs.
“It was not supposed to happen, man,” Jose Molina said. “They should, first, see who they’re shooting at. Why would they come and shoot where you see all the little kids?
“If they’ve got something against any one of us, why didn’t they come to us?”
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been started by family members of the victims to help alleviate their financial burdens.
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