Sen. Mattie Hunter: No one is 'exempt' from violence that killed nephews
Retired Chicago Public Schools teacher, Sharon Byron, has attended so many funerals of former students, she has lost count.
On Saturday, Byron added one more to her list: the funeral of Willie Lee Hunter, 31, who was killed while with his brother, John Lee Hunter, 25, who was also killed.
The siblings, memorialized in white caskets, had a joint service at Gatling’s Chapel, 10133 Halsted St.
“This is so sad,” said Bryon, who taught Willie Hunter at Mahalia Jackson Elementary School, 917 W. 88th St. in Chicago. “These are kids with so much promise. . . And many of them are younger than this.”
The Hunter brothers, nephews of state Ill. State Sen. Mattie Hunter, were killed during a bloody July 4thweekend. At least 10 were killed and about 50 others were wounded in the city.
One shooting included Amari Brown, a 7-year-old killed on the Fourth of July. He was watching fireworks when he was shot in the chest.
On July 5, the Hunter brothers, who were visiting from Missouri, were shot as they sat in a vehicle at 88th and Bishop St.
“As I have often stated, our family is not exempt from the violence that we face each day in Chicago,” Hunter told about 500 mourners. “And guess what? The real truth of the matter is that no matter who you are, what you do, and peacefully you try to live – in today’s world, violence is seemingly never far away and always ready to strike. None of us are exempt. We are all in this terrible situation together and violence can affect anyone.”
She added, “no one wants to be a member of this ever-growing fraternity of families left to cope with the aftermath of tragedy and joining a sorority of sadness, all because some resorted to violence. So together, we must all consciously commit to changing this community culture of crime, death and despair.”
She told the group they were in a battle.
“We must fight to win this war against crime, violence and apathy,” Hunter said. “There is no easy solutions, only hard choices about what we and will not accept in our community.”
During his eulogy, the Rev. John McEwen said “enough is enough.”
He asked the crowd to join him 7 p.m. Friday at the shooting site to “bless” the block.
“Every Friday, we are going to pick a block,” said McEwen at the funeral in which some relatives wailed.
During the service, the Hunters’ Missouri co-workers also expressed grief, including an emotional talk from a supervisor, Amanda Kunkelman.
According to family members, the Hunter brothers moved to Jefferson City, Mo. in 2013 and worked at Scholastic, Inc., a publishing company.
John Hunter worked in the packing department, while Willie Hunter was a manager in the operations department.
After the funeral, Byron received plenty of hugs from classmates of the two men.
Some of her former students had tears welling in their eyes.
“You were always the best teacher,” one ex-student told Byron.
Another student recalled the Hunters’ smiles and remembered the pair liked playing video games.
Ketta Lawrence, a childhood friend of the Hunters, said she was in shock.
“Like the minister said, “enough is enough,” Lawrence said. “Something has to come of this.”
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