Deonte Hoard / Photo from Facebook
BY MICHAEL O'BRIEN AND MICHAEL LANSU
Chicago Sun-Times
Deonte Hoard waved goodbye to the Urban Prep-Englewood boys basketball team Monday afternoon and then headed home, a coach said.
Hoard, a 17-year-old senior, was a member of the team until December, when he was dismissed for eligibility issues.
Hoard was walking in the 10500 block of South Yates Avenue when gunfire erupted from a black SUV about 7:20 p.m. Monday, authorities said.
Hoard, 17, of the 10500 block of South Oglesby Avenue, was shot in the chest and died at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office, which ruled the death a homicide.
Hoard’s former teammates were warming up on the court at St. Laurence High School when he was shot.
“It’s awful,” said Urban Prep-Englewood coach Fred Cleveland. “We saw him when he was leaving. He was waving at us. He was on his way home. [If he was still on the team] he would have been playing last night. [The coaches] found out at halftime but we didn’t tell the team until after the game.”
Urban Prep founder and CEO Tim King said in a statement that Hoard attended the school's Englewood campus.
“He was one of my favorite kids in the building, he was tough,” Carter said. “This Friday he was supposed to get his red and gold tie.”
Hoard was the first Urban Prep student to be killed while enrolled in one of the schools. The network of all-boys public schools founded in 2002, according to the charter schools' website.
Hoard was a member of the track team and had been admitted to several colleges, King said.
“He kept trying to get back on the [basketball] team over and over again,” said Urban Prep-Englewood assistant coach Dwayne Carter. “It just never worked out.”
Hoard was scheduled to receive the ceremonial tie Friday at the "On to the Next One Ceremony" for seniors who had been admitted to college.
"We will remember a young man full of promise and potential, well-liked by teachers and friends, and loved by his family," King said.
Police said a 23-year-old man was also wounded in the shooting and was treated for a graze wound to the head at Advocate Trinity Hospital.
Urban Prep will be "providing support" to Hoard's family and offer grief counseling to students and staff, King said.
“He was just a friendly person,” said Brandon Sparkman, a teammate and friend of Hoard’s at Urban Prep-Englewood. “He was the type of guy that just never got mad about anything.”
Police said a 23-year-old man was also wounded in the shooting and was treated for a graze wound to the head at Advocate Trinity Hospital.
Urban Prep will be "providing support" to Hoard's family and offer grief counseling to students and staff, King said.
Nobody has been charged for the murder.
Area South detectives are investigating.
-- Contributing: Sun-Times Media Wire