A 5-year-old boy died days after he was shot in the head during a drive-by in Rogers Park.
Devin McGregor, who was shot Sunday, had just started school in Evanston and was excited to go back Monday, violence responder Andrew Holmes said.
“The grandfather was expecting his little strongman to pull through,” Holmes said.
Devin had been with his mother and father when a black Hyundai pulled up near them. Someone in the Hyundai began shooting, hitting the father in the hand and the boy in the head. Devin’s mother drove directly to a hospital in Evanston before her son was transferred to Lurie Children’s Hospital in critical condition, a police report said. He was in the pediatric intensive care unit.
“He was a bright, fun young man,” Holmes said the family told him.
Devin liked playing basketball with his young uncles, said Tervalon Sargent, his maternal grandfather.
“His uncle was teaching him the ropes about riding the bus,” Sargent said. “They also love playing video games, especially that one, Roblox. They’d play that all the time.”
The boy died at 8:05 p.m. Thursday, police said. No one is in custody for the shooting and detectives are investigating, police added.
“The killer is still on the street,” Holmes added.
The boy’s grandmother, Tamika Sargent, shared news of his death in a GoFundMe page she created Thursday to cover the family’s expenses.
“After being in the PICU of Luries Chicago Hospital since Sunday, Devin has lost his fight. We are deeply saddened and don’t have the words to express our grief,” she wrote Friday.
According to his grandmother, the 5-year-old was known as “Boom” to family and friends. “Devin is an energetic, sweet child who spreads love everywhere he goes!” Sargent wrote on the GoFundMe Thursday. As of Friday afternoon, the page had raised over $22,000.
“To say that you will be missed is an understatement, to know that 5 years is not enough time,” the grandmother wrote on Facebook Friday. Comments on the mother’s Facebook page flooded it with blue heart emojis for the boy.
