‘He was so kind’: Sister remembers fallen CPD Officer Luis Huesca

CHICAGO — Chicago Police Department Officer Luis Huesca dreamed of starting a family of his own one day, but that was taken from him when he was shot to death last weekend.

“It feels like I’m still waiting for him to call me or just walk through the door,” said Lily O’Brien.

O’Brien said her baby brother was many things including a loving uncle, an avid traveler who enjoyed learning new cultures and cuisines, a man who spoke a handful of languages, and a person who never shied away from going the extra mile for friends, family, and strangers.

“He was so kind; he was so smart,” O’Brien said. “He was just a person you wanted to be around.”

Huesca should have been traveling to the West Coast to visit O’Brien, her husband, and kids this weekend like he frequently does, instead, they rushed to Chicago after receiving the worst news imaginable.

“I just feel like I want to scream all the time and that’s what I did when my mom called me,” O’Brien said. “I said, all I want to do is get to the part of you telling me what hospital he’s at and that he’s okay. Then, she said he was dead, and I just dropped to the floor, and I screamed.”

24-hour vigil held for fallen Chicago officers at Gold Star Memorial Park

On Sunday, April 21, Huesca was returning to his Gage Park home after finishing a work shift, when he was shot multiple times. He was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

On Tuesday, Huesca’s killing was officially declared a line-of-duty death.

“We hold police accountable when they do something wrong, but when something happens to them, nobody cares. There’s no protests out there, there’s no politicians talking about making changes so that these types of things don’t happen,” said O’Brien. “There’s no protests, there’s nothing happening to say the violence in Chicago is insane, where if this can happen to an officer, what can happen to you as a regular person?”

O’Brien said her family is living in a state of shock — a nightmare they can’t wake up from. She said she cannot fathom the thought of her mother having to bury her youngest son, who would have turned 31 years old, two days after his murder.

“I do not wish what we’re feeling and what we’re going through on anybody,” O’Brien said. “We came back to our hotel, and we were talking about how some of the buildings had the lights in blue and we’re like, ‘oh that’s so pretty,’ and then it hit us that it’s in blue because of my brother.”

On what would have been Huesca’s birthday, his sister said family and friends packed her mother’s house in a showing of support because he loved getting everyone together.

“We sang happy birthday, and we had his pictures and we had balloons, and then there’s that moment when we blew out the candle and there’s nobody there,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien said she brought her children with her to honor her brother’s life because he was always there for them – no matter the distance he had to travel.

“My brother was an officer, yes, but he was also a person. He was a person, and he matters,” O’Brien said.

GoFundMe account created to help slain officer’s mother

It was just one year ago O’Brien had an emotional conversation with her brother after he lost his friend, CPD Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso, who was killed while responding to a domestic incident in Gage Park. She asked him to move closer to her and said she was concerned.

“I told him, I don’t want to get that phone call,” O’Brien said. “I was telling him, this is going to happen to us and he was always like, ‘I am so careful, and I always try to do my best and it’s not.’”

She said nothing can prepare you to receive the call she got last weekend.

The Chicago Police Department has identified a suspect in the murder of officer Luis Huesca, sources told WGN Investigates Friday evening.

The source said an arrest warrant has been issued, but the suspect is not yet in custody.

The family of Huesca wants answers and is asking the public to come forward if you or someone you know can assist in the investigation.

“I go between being in this hole of darkness that I can’t even explain, to being furious that we’re even here, that other people have gone through this, and more people will go through this,” O’Brien said. “I’m furious that whoever did this is still out there, and my brother is not, and they didn’t even give him a chance.”

O’Brien said she wants to see changes that ensure no other family ever has to bury a loved one.

“I used to have so many fond memories of the city. I lived here for a number of years, and I worked here, and now everywhere I look, I see my brother and I feel what happened and I can’t see anything – I can’t see anything positive right now,” O’Brien said.

It was a gunshot detection alert that initially brought officers to the area Sunday morning.

“You think about that device that heard the shots that led police to find my brother, if that hadn’t been there, it wasn’t somebody that called 911 for him,” O’Brien said. “If that hadn’t been there, how long would it be until my mother walks out and sees my brother on the ground?”

While the motive for the murder has not been released, CPD Superintendent Larry Snelling confirmed the officer’s vehicle was missing from the scene. It was later located less than a mile away.

“Just because you’re a police officer doesn’t mean you don’t matter, and you’re signing your life away to die for anything,” said Obrien. “I don’t think he’d be willing to die for a car. I think if somebody would have walked up to him and told them give me your car, he would have given them the car.”

Multiple police sources have also confirmed the officer’s service weapon was not on him when he was found.

As O’Brien and her family process the thought of pushing forward without the man who brought so much joy to their family, she said she is filled with pride to know the impact he had on so many people, including strangers taking to the internet to share the stories of how he helped them.

“Since he was little, he was like, ‘It’s not fair, I’m not going to stand here if bad things are happening,’” O’Brien said.

No arrests have been announced.

Police are asking anyone with information that could lead to an arrest in Huesca’s shooting death to contact Area One detectives or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-535-7867 (STOP) or Tips@cookcountycrimestoppers.org.

A cash reward of up to $10,000 is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest.

Visitation will be open to the public from 1-8 p.m. on Saturday at the Blake-Lamb Funeral Home, and a mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday at St. Rita Cascia Catholic Church. Interment will follow the funeral at Rosehill Cemetery.

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