Jabari Scurlock / Family photo
BY ANGELIQUE WHITE
Homicide Watch Chicago
Jabari "Snoop" Scurlock wanted to become a brain surgeon if he didn't make it to the NBA.
Jabari, 16, was shot in the back about 8:30 p.m. Sunday in the 5900 block of South Justine Street in the West Englewood neighborhood and died less than an hour later, authorities said.
“If I could tell him one thing right now it would be sorry. I’m sorry I left Chicago to try to better myself. I tried to be the perfect dad,” said his father, Jabari Scurlock Sr., who lives in Minnesota. “I would have stayed out there and went through the struggle with you. I didn’t mean to let you down.
“Chicago is no place for a child anymore.”
Nobody has been charged for the murder.
“I use to think about retaliation but now that I’m older I can’t think like that anymore, I just pray and ask God to bring justice to my son,” Scurlock Sr. said. “I want the police to do their job and I want justice for my son.”
Jabari Scurlock memorial / Photo by Michael Lansu
Jabari, who had five younger siblings, attended Excel Academy of Englewood, where his favorite subjects were math and science, said his mother, Kenyada Lester.
“He was going to be the brain surgeon and I was going to be the nurse,” said his girlfriend, who is not being named because she is a juvenile.
Jabari was learning how to drive for prom, his girlfriend said. He hoped to get his driver's license this week, according to his mother.
“We were supposed to go to prom together, I can’t even go to prom with him anymore,” said his girlfriend, fighting back tears.
Scurlock Sr. said he gave his son advice on life and relationships.
“I told him to stay in school first, you’re too young to worry about love," Scurlock Sr. said. "Love will find you when you’re ready."
In addition to school, Jabari enjoyed basketball and played with a Jesse Jackson basketball team affiliated with the Rainbow Push Coalition, Lester said. The forward had dreams of making it to the NBA and possibly playing for the Miami Heat, one of his favorite teams, family said.
“He always had a goal he wanted to achieve,” his father said.
Besides basketball, Jabari enjoyed dancing and rapping, family said. He liked Chinese food, chicken and home cooked meals, his father said.
“He was always happy and joyful, and he loved rap music,” his girlfriend said. “He also loved to dance and bop, even though he wasn’t a good bopper, he still tried, my baby still tried.”
Jabari's family described him as a sharp dresser who enjoyed going to the mall for the latest fashions.
“He had to be dressed nice when he left the house, and he loved True Religion," his girlfriend said with a playful smirk.