A Chicago alderman renewed calls for Mayor Brandon Johnson to reactivate Chicago's contract with ShotSpotter after a weekend shooting left the body of a 19-year-old woman lying in an alley for hours.
The body of 19-year-old Sierra Evans was found at around 9:30 a.m. Sunday in the 9500 block of South Avenue N, which is on the city's East Side, according to Chicago police.
Evans' uncle, Mark Abrams, was understandably devastated when he found out Evans had been killed.
"It was like a shock," Abrams said. "I considered her my blood niece, and I’ve done everything for her."
Evans' friends held a vigil at Calumet Park Monday night, hoping to heal and help police put together the pieces of the tragedy.
"The detectives don’t know if she was murdered there or somewhere else, but they said she was killed between 11:45 and 12:15 in the morning and nine hours later a neighbor came out to feed his cats and he noticed a body there and called police," Abrams said.
If ShotSpotter technology was present, it's possible Evans' life may have been saved, Abrams said.
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"...Because somebody in neighborhood or police would've been in area in seconds. I feel like the mayor needs to step up and put the ShotSpotters back. Not only in the east area but throughout the city. It's time for the mayor to do something about it."
SoundThinking, the company behind ShotSpotter began dismantling the technology on Monday, Sept. 23 after its contract expired with the city. Ald. David Moore, of the city's 17th Ward, said his fellow alderman, 10th Ward Ald. Peter Chico, contacted SoundThinking, which confirmed it received an alert in the area.
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"Instead of a resident finding her body hours later, the sound of gunfire would have alerted CPD to multiple shots at 12:06 a.m. and it would have done so in less than 30 seconds from the shots being detected," Moore said. "While the politics of this city is trying to minimize this tragedy, I'm not going to remain silent. This is about saving lives. For a woman to be found 9 ½ hours after a ShotSpotter alert could have been sent is heartbreaking."
Abrams said Evans' family deserves closure for the shattered dreams of this teen who they said had straight A’s and had been recently working at UPS.
"She had nobody hating her, no enemies she was loved through hundreds of people," he said. "Not only on the East Side, but throughout the city. Not only at schools. Everybody loved her."
Chicago police were continuing to investigate as of Monday evening. Anyone with information was asked to call police or submit an anonymous tip online.
