Two Chicago mothers were reportedly handing out food to other mothers and watching over a vacant lot-turned-neighborhood play area just hours before they were shot and killed in a drive-by in the same area Friday.
Chantell Grant, a 26-year-old mother of four, and Andrea Stoudemire, a 35-year-old mother of four, were volunteering with Mothers Against Senseless Killings Foundation, a nonprofit hoping to offer safe spaces for kids in their community, according to CBS News.
They were shot with bullets intended for a gang member, just after they finished up work for the day and had begun walking to a store to get food for their own families, the television station reported.
“It is terrifying. It is heartbreaking. I haven’t slept because I am trying to figure out how we can stop this,” Tamar Manasseh, founder of MASK, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Who’s next? I just keep thinking, ‘Who’s next?’ ”
Manasseh started a GoFundMe page to raise a $5,000 reward for anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest in the mothers’ deaths.
It had earned $21,589 by noon Thursday.
“We deserve to live without fear and the young women,” Manasseh said on the page. “Chantell Grant and Andrea Stoudemire who were torn from their children families tonight, deserve justice.”
Police said they responded to a ShotSpotter call just before 10 p.m. and found both women down on the sidewalk in the 7500 block of South Stewart Avenue.
They later learned a blue SUV drove up and opened fire on the street.
Grant and Stoudemire were shot several times in the chest and taken to the University of Chicago Hospital, where they were later pronounced dead.
A 30-year-old man was also shot in the arm, police said. He was treated as a walk-in at St. Bernard Hospital, and he is listed in stable condition.
A 58-year-old man was also injured in the arm after he fell to the ground. He was taken to St. Bernard Hospital in good condition.
Police are investigating the shooting but don’t have anyone in custody.
“This is still very much under investigation, but at this time, we have no evidence that we can point to that suggests the women were the intended targets,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told Atlanta Black Star Thursday. “We also have no evidence to the contrary.”
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call Area South Detectives at (312) 747-8271, or submit a tip anonymously at cpdtip.com.
