CHICAGO (WLS) — The man charged with the murder of a 9-year-old Chicago girl is due in court Tuesday.
Family and friends gathered near the girl’s home in Portage Park Monday night for a vigil in her honor.
The vigil brought out family members and neighbors. This as a street side memorial continues to grow.
Many gathering to remember nine-year-old Serabi Medina at a vigil outside her home in the Portage Park neighborhood.
Chicago police said she was shot and killed Saturday night after getting ice cream with her father in the 3500-block of North Long Avenue at about 9:40 p.m. Saturday.
The man charged with first degree murder in the shooting, 43-year-old Michael Goodman, is their neighbor.
Police said Goodman, who is known to police, walked up to a group of people and shot Medina in the head on the sidewalk outside her home.
When her father saw the gunman, he tried to stop him. During the struggle, witnesses said the Goodman was shot in the face with his own gun.
“He saved other people because God only knows what that monster intended to do that night, how many lives he was going to take and if it wasn’t for Serabi’s father, it could be a lot more,” relative Angee Gonzalez Rodriguez said.
The girl was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, and she died a short time later, police said. Chicago police initially said Medina was 8, but a family friend later confirmed she was 9 years old.
Goodman was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition.
Adding the family’s tragedy, Medina’s mother, 29-year-old Blanca Miranda, was shot and killed in 2018. Neighbors said the family moved to their Portage Park apartment shortly after her death.
Meanwhile, it’s still unclear why the little girl was targeted.
“You killed an innocent child, an innocent baby girl for what reason? Now, these parents have to mourn their baby and everything else, and every time they turn around and look, they’ll know it was across the street. Nobody’s going to let their kids come around here and play. People aren’t going to take their kids to this park because they are terrified. We just wanted to pay our respects to her and to her family. But it’s just crazy,” said Sue Kyser, who lives nearby.
Those who knew Medina, who went by the nickname “Bibi,” said she was going into fourth grade and was looking forward to the start of school.
“No one should watch their kid get shot in front of them. That is wrong as a society,” activist Flash ABC said.
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Read More: Chicago shooting: Man charged in fatal shooting of girl, 9, in Portage Park due in court
