For the second time within the last seven days, another child was felled by gun violence. A brush of hands between two men at about 10 p.m. Sunday on a Chicago Transit Authority bus was behind the fatal shooting of Kiyanna Salter, a 17-year-old Julian Hig
For the second time within the last seven days, another child was felled by gun violence.
A brush of hands between two men at about 10 p.m. Sunday on a Chicago Transit Authority bus was behind the fatal shooting of Kiyanna Salter, a 17-year-old Julian High School student who sat near one of the men on the bus, her cousin said.
Salter and her 18-year-old cousin Jasmine Wilcox had just left their aunt’s home and were heading to another aunt’s home in the 11300 block of South Racine Avenue where she stayed during the week to be closer to school.
According to Wilcox, as one of the men talked to them, another man walked past and accidentally brushed the other man’s hand, sparking an argument. Both men brandished guns, and when one exited the No. 71 bus near 71st Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, he shot once back into the bus.
The high school senior, who was one of four siblings, liked to play basketball and was an aspiring doctor, was struck in the eye, Wilcox said.
She died about a half hour later at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Salter’s mother said her daughter was unfortunately caught in the middle.
“That’s how it always is, the innocent always end up getting caught,” said her mother, Sonja Nelson.
Ariel Rainey, a 20-year-old cousin of Salter’s, could barely maintain composure at a prayer vigil Monday at the intersection where the girl was killed and collapsed several times in the arms of her friends.
“She loved Strawberry Shortcake, dancing and she even wanted to get into modeling because she had long legs. She didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserves this,” cried Rainey, who described Salter as more of a sister than a cousin.
No one else was injured, and no one is in custody.
Police have released video footage from the bus of the suspect.
He is described as African American with black braided hair and a dark complexion. The man was last seen wearing a hooded jacket imprinted with multiple colored blue and white number nines with an orange zipper, blue jeans and tan boots.
Cook County Crime Stoppers has offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman.
Anyone with information is urged to call Area 2 detectives at 312-747- 8271, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-535-7867. Another Julian student was fatally shot in a similar manner. In May 2007, Blair Holt was shot to death while riding on a CTA bus about a mile from the school.
On Oct. 2, Sameere Conn, an eighth grade student at Bright Elementary School in Trumball Park, was gunned down while inside a grocery store less than two blocks from his home. He was caught in the middle of an alleged gang shooting.
In photos: (main photo) Friends and classmates of Kiyanna Salter grieve for her during a prayer vigil near the intersection where she was killed Sunday on a CTA bus.
(second photo) Ariel Rainey (center), cousin of Kiyanna Salter, repeatedly asked "Why?" during a prayer vigil Monday for the teen near the intersection where she was killed on a CTA bus.
(third photo) Kiyanna Salter
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