BY EMILY BROSIOUS AND KALEY FOWLER
Homicide Watch Chicago
Instead of celebrating Jaynisha Schaffer’s 20th birthday, her friends and family were planning a funeral after she was fatally shot four days earlier in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.
Schaffer, 19, was walking with a group in the 2200 block of West 69th Street when someone rode up on a bicycle and opened fire about 7:05 p.m. June 7, authorities said.
Schaffer, of the 7600 block of South Paulina Street, was shot in the back and died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn later that night, authorities said.
Schaffer was walking with a group of female friends when they heard a gunshot and ran away. Schaffer didn’t realize she had been shot until she fell down, her family said.
Schaffer was a sophomore at Kennedy-King College, where she was studying architecture, her family said. She chose architecture because she loved to draw.
“She was an excellent drawer. If you stood still long enough she could draw you,” said a family member who asked not to be named.
In addition to drawing, Schaffer enjoyed dancing, family said. The oldest of five siblings, family described Schaffer as a typical 19-year-old who got good grades and stayed out of trouble.
“I think it’s just senseless for somebody to shoot her in the back like that in these streets,” the family member said. “I want the mayor to answer, 'why are all these children dying in the streets?' It’s a war zone. Why don’t they declare Martial law?"
Nobody has been charged for the murder. Area Central detectives are investigating.