BY CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO
Homicide Watch Chicago
A balloon sways in the wind. An empty liquor bottle rests on the pavement. Flowers wilt in the January snow. These are the memorials for some of Chicago's murder victims.
The memorials are places to grieve, celebrate and share words and photos. Some memorials mark a crime scene, while others are erected outside a victim's home. All are reminders of lives taken by violence.
Tramian Barnes allegedly fatally shot 19-year-old Alex Anderson in January in the Portage Park neighborhood. After being shot, Anderson stumbled home and said, “Tre Shot me.” Anderson died the next day and became the 15th homicide victim of 2014.
Photo from Alex Anderson memorial / Photo by Chase DiFeliciantonio
A memorial for Anderson was created near a snowy sidewalk outside his home. It featured a large photograph of him, candles and empty liquor bottles.
Photos from Alex Anderson memorial / Photo by Chase DiFeliciantonio
Ronald Hayes, 17, was fatally shot in February while shoveling snow by his Near West Side home, family said. His mother, Cathy Booker, wore her son's Banner West Academy school ID around her neck as she recalled his love for basketball and his teenage appetite for tacos and Italian beef.
Booker shows Hayes' school ID card / Photo by Chase DiFeliciantonio
Hayes’ memorial was created where he was killed and featured stuffed animals and flowers struggling to survive in the February snow. A single blue balloon swayed silhouetted against the sky -- an exclamation point marking the city’s 31st homicide of 2014.
Javan Boyd, 28, was working his night job as a livery driver when at least two gunmen fatally shot him just blocks from U.S. Cellular Field in February. His aunt, Trina Boyd, said he was a hard working man who loved to play basketball and spend time with his 11-year-old daughter.
The memorials often feature balloons and look colorful from a distance, but up close nicknames and expressions of love are often featured on a blank white board.
Photos from Javan Boyd memorial / Photo by Chase DiFeliciantonio
Eric Woods was fatally shot in the chest at his home in the West Garfield Park neighborhood in late February during a domestic dispute.
Eric Woods / Family Photo
Mourners stood in front of the home where a white board was erected with the phrases “forever you live thru” and “you live through us.” A trail of darkening blood spattered the stairs and sidewalk in front of the home and red roses had been scattered across the scene.
Photos from Eric Woods memorial / Photo by Chase DiFeliciantonio