Parents are waiting for answers after West Ridge shooting death of 13-year-old son – GNT NEWS

After nearly a week, no arrests have been made in the slaying of a 13-year-old boy in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood.

Lavell Winslow was found shot in a North Side park. His parents said his death was not an accident and they want the person responsible to be brought to justice.

Vanessa Winslow and Jeffery Brown describe Lavelle as a bright, straight-laced kid who loved hockey and wanted to be an IT professional or construction worker when he grew up.

“My son has excelled in school,” Brown said. “He was going somewhere in his life.”

“He’s not a thug or a criminal,” Vanessa Winslow said.

Last Friday, a mysterious shooting ended the life of an eighth grader.

Lavell’s parents said he went to Lerner Park to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Chicago police said the teenager was found on a bench with a gunshot wound to the head.

The witness stated that he heard a loud shot, after which several people fled the area on foot. A witness called the police after discovering the male victim.

“My son was left under the gazebo on a bench with a hole in his head,” Brown said. “It was discovered by an off-duty police officer with a crowd of people running.”

Hours after the shooting, 50th Ward Ald. Debra Silverstein tweeted that the shooting appeared to be an accident, but Lavell’s parents said they disagreed with that statement.

Ald. Silverstein told GNT NEWS on Thursday that she is grieving with the family and has reached out to them.

She also said that this is an ongoing investigation and that she hopes that whoever did this will be brought to justice.

Lavell’s parents said they won’t rest until they know who killed their son and why.

“If it was an accident, they should have told the parents and then gone to the police, but that didn’t happen,” Brown said. “We will do everything in our power to make sure he gets the justice he deserves because he didn’t deserve to die.”