Mother seeks answers after her 14-year-old is killed in Little Village apartment
A mother walked up to the Little Village apartment building Tuesday and peered at the window with a bullet hole to learn more about how her 14-year-old son was killed.
Joshua Sanchez became involved with a gang and ran away from home four days earlier to stay and sell drugs from the building in the 2200 block of South Christiana Avenue, the mother told the Chicago Sun-Times.
His mother moved out of the neighborhood a month earlier after a confrontation with a gang, she said, asking not to be named or photographed for fear of her safety.
She returned to the neighborhood late Tuesday morning to try to learn why he died.
"Somebody did it. They have to pay for it," she said. "There was an adult inside the house. Why didn't you do anything?"
She left minutes later without an answer.
Authorities have released few details about how her child was killed.
Police said they responded at 10:20 p.m. Monday and found Joshua at the apartment with a gunshot wound to his chest. He died minutes later at Stroger Hospital. No arrests were made, police said.
Pamphlets asking for tips in the case were placed at neighboring homes. Neighbors were reluctant to speak with a reporter about the tenants of the home.
Joshua's mother learned about his death earlier Tuesday morning from one of her other three children.
"He told me 'Ma, they killed Josh,'" she said.
Joshua attended Farragut Career Academy at the end of the block, she said, though sometimes he skipped school.
The building's landlord, reached by phone, said he was aware that the tenant was housing youths who got into trouble.
"They're just little kids," he said.
He said the woman who rented the apartment always paid the rent in cash on time. He said the tenant was considering leaving the apartment, in the wake of the shooting, but that he may evict her if she does not leave.