Tevin Bryant / Family Photo
BY WILL HAGER
Homicide Watch Chicago
Tevin Bryant never stopped smiling, even when he was upset, family said.
The 19-year-old was fatally shot about noon Jan. 29 inside an apartment in the 700 block of East 79th Street in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, authorities said.
Bryant lived with his girlfriend in the 7900 block of South Greenwood Avenue and attended community college in Lake County, said his mother, Tasha Bryant.
He enjoyed architecture and admired Downtown skyscrapers like the Trump Tower and others in New York City, his mom said. She said Tevin had respect for older people and was more mature than his peers.
“He was a happy person,” Tasha Bryant, who lives in Hammond, Ind., said. “He smiled all the time. Even when he was upset, he would have a big Kool-Aid smile on his face.”
Tasha Bryant, said she spoke to her son over the phone the day before the shooting.
Authorities said Tevin Bryant entered an apartment with a group of people while a 20-year-old man waited outside. Tevin Bryant, who court records say was charged with a misdemeanor in 2012 in Lake County, was shot inside the apartment and the 20-year-old man was shot twice in the arm as he attempted to run away, authorities said.
Tevin Bryant was dead on the scene with a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Police said the 20-year-old man was initially taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in “stable” condition.
Tasha Bryant says she would be relieved if her son’s killer was caught.
“I want justice,” she said.