Boy, 14, Killed In Auburn Gresham Shooting As His Football Team Mourns A ‘Heartbreaking Loss’

AUBURN GRESHAM — A suburban youth football team is dealing with an “unimaginable loss” following the shooting death of one of its former players, 14-year-old Marcus Chatman Jr., Thursday in Auburn Gresham.

Chatman was shot multiple times around 11:30 p.m. Thursday in the 8000 block of South Carpenter Street, according to police. He was transported to the University of Chicago Hospital in critical condition before being pronounced dead just after midnight Friday, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Chatman, of West Pullman, is described as a loving and social young person. He was a former player on the Midwest Hawks, a youth football team based in south suburban Country Club Hills. The team, coached by the teenager’s stepfather, called his death a “heartbreaking loss” and asked the community for support.

“No parent should ever have to endure the pain of losing a child,” the team said in a statement on social media. “As the family navigates this unimaginable loss, we ask that you keep them lifted in prayer and surround them with love, strength, and support … [his] life touched many, and while his time here was far too short, he will never be forgotten.”

The boy’s mother, Ahmani Hicks, set up a fundraiser to cover expenses during the family’s time of need, with a $4,500 goal. She described her son as loved by many.

“This my new reality now? My baby was so full of life, loving, caring and could make a friend ANYWHERE,” she wrote in the fundraiser. All I have is memories and pictures left. I don’t have a long paragraph but I know my baby was loved!”

Area detectives are investigating the shooting, police said.