Update: Authorities confirmed Wednesday morning that Aeyanuna Rogers had died.
Aeyanuna Rogers and her best friend didn't have a good feeling about the lakefront gathering they were approaching Monday night so they turned around to walk away.
As they headed away from the 57th Street Beach at around 11 p.m, gunshots rang out.
Briané Goodrum and Rogers were holding hands, trying to make their way through the crowd of people near the Museum of Science and Industry, when Rogers' grip slipped.
Rogers had been shot in the head
"It still seems unreal," Goodrum whispered as she sat in her Calumet City home and wiped away tears. "We did the right thing. Noticed it didn't look safe, turned around and were leaving. They took away a daughter, sister, granddaughter and friend. I know somebody saw what happened. I hope they say something."
Rogers graduated this year from Northern Illinois University with a degree in child development.
Late Tuesday, there were conflicting reports as to whether Rogers had passed away. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said it has not yet received a body, but Area 2 police said a homicide investigation has been launched.
Goodrum said the last official word she received was that Rogers was in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital with no brain activity and on life support systems.
A 17-year-old boy was also shot in the incident, police said. He was taken to Provident Hospital of Cook County by his mother and is expected to be OK.
Police have no one in custody in connection with the shooting near East 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive and did not offer any shooter descriptions. There are surveillance cameras in the area, but it's so far unknown what, if anything, they recorded.
