BY EMILY BROSIOUS
Homicide Watch Chicago
It has been nearly a year since Andrew Turner was fatally shot in the North Lawndale neighborhood, and his family continues to search for answers as they struggle to cope with their loss.
"It's still unbelievable. It's still fresh to me. And for it still not to be solved, that hurts a lot," said Ebony Scott, Turner's girlfriend and mother of his two oldest children.
Turner was a "family man" who was silly but firm with his children, Scott said. He wanted to raise them to be good men.
"He took care of us," Scott said. "He was my rock."
Turner, 23, of the 1100 block of South Independence Boulevard, was shot in the jaw July 26, 2013, in the 3200 block of West Roosevelt Road, authorities said. He died six days later at Mount Sinai hospital.
"Seeing him in the hospital bed like that, it made me feel numb.” Scott said. “I really thought he was going to make it. I had so much hope. ... When I lost him, I felt like I didn’t want to live anymore. My heart stopped."
Police said Turner had gang affiliations. Scott denied that claim, but admits Turner sold drugs to support his family.
"There’s a lot of rumors ... People hear he was black and he got shot, so they assume things," Scott said. "Everybody's got different ways of making a living. People out here selling a lot of things they shouldn't be selling. But a lot of people doing it for the wrong reasons. Andy did it for his family."
Scott doesn't know why Turner was murdered, but thinks it has something to do with jealousy. She described him as a handsome and smart man with a nice family and nice cars.
"I think they wanted what he had," she said. "People don’t want to see you shine out here. Andy was shining in his glow, and they took him out that glow."
Scott said she had been fearful of dangers associated with Turner's lifestyle, but said he was on good terms with everyone.
"I never thought this would happen,” said Audrey Langston, Turner’s grandmother. “He was a generous spirit and a free spirit ... I miss him so much."
Langston raised Turner and five of his siblings. She remembers him as a shy, well-mannered child.
"People were always telling me how respectful he was," Langston said. "That's rare from young men these days."
Turner was trying to turn his life around before he died, Scott said. He wanted a legitimate career and she tried to help him fill out job applications, she said.
"A lot of people don't know, but Andy was smart. He even went to college and he could of graduated," Scott said. “But he got sidetracked with ‘Oh you’re pregnant, we need money.'"
Scott and Langston both think people in the neighborhood know who shot Turner and ask anyone with information to come forward.
"I just want the detectives to come to my door one day and be like, 'We got him,'" Scott said. "That's all I want. I think about that every day."