Chanda Foreman’s close friends and family remember her for her faith in God and her love for fashion and food.
The night the 37-year- old was killed, she was outside her great aunt’s house to check on her
six-year- old daughter, Chaylah. Foreman and a few friends were returning from her birthday
celebration at Cooper Hawk restaurant on 111th street.
Around 15 members of Foreman’s family, including kids, were sitting on the porch enjoying the
evening when a car pulled up and opened fire. Five people were shot. To the family’s
knowledge, there are no suspects or leads and the car was found burned a few days later.
Foreman’s daughter was in the house during the shooting and now stays with her grandmother,
Cathy Geralds.
Chaylah Foreman’s features, interest and mannerisms resemble her mother’s, Geralds said.
Because of Foreman’s love for H&M, Michael Kors and MAC, her friends referred to her as a
fashionista. “She was an all-around girly girl,” Henry said.
Pencil skirts, pastels, and lime-green nails were part of her signature style. Foreman’s younger
cousin, Markita Sims, found solace in Foreman wearing a cream, floral dress with her trademark
nails visible at her funeral.
Foreman’s faith was a consistent dimension in all of her relationships. She attended church
every Sunday and bible study on Wednesdays, Sims said.
“She was a very reliable and spiritual friend,” Denise Henry said, “She kinda had a motherly
protection.” Geralds said Foreman acted as a second mother to her four siblings, who were all
raised in the Baptist church. As the oldest of five, her family always admired her independence.
Her independence and other values also reflected her relationship with God. Henry remembers
a mutual friend losing their tax refund and Foreman prayed for her to find it until she did. Her
younger cousin, Markita Sims, said Foreman taught her about honesty and loyalty. “She would
always say, ‘tell the truth, lies will catch up with you,’” Sims said.
After graduating, she got her own apartment and began working. This year marks her 10th year
of employment at Comcast. Even though she had a promising future in styling from practicing
on her family, Foreman planned on switching to a career in physical therapy and was enrolled in
classes at South Suburban College.
Geralds realized at a young age that her daughter advancement academically. “She excelled in
everything she did,” she said. Foreman attended Simeon Career Academy, a well-sought
vocational high school in Chatham. She was the first person in her family to attend there, which
allowed her siblings and cousins to follow her.
Foreman instilled the same importance of education, faith and her passion for glamour into her
six-year- old daughter, who she’d reward with a manicure and pedicure if she did well in school
that week. Geralds remembered the young girl’s response when she heard her family was shot,
“I hope everybody get their life back.” And “everybody did, but her mother,” Geralds said.