'Kindhearted, Loving' 9-Year-Old Chicago Boy Shot and Killed While Playing During Grandmother’s Birthday Party
July 15 2023, Published 11:08 a.m. ET
A 9-year-old boy was allegedly shot and killed in Illinois during his grandmother’s birthday party, and now a man has been charged in connection with his murder, authorities announced.
The shooting occurred in Franklin Park around 10:15 p.m. on July 8, according to the Franklin Park Police.
Authorities said Ulysses Campos was outside playing with other children while at his grandmother’s birthday party in the western Chicago suburb when a disturbance occurred in a nearby alley.
The suspect, later identified as 37-year-old Javier Murillo, allegedly fired four to six shots into the group while inside a moving vehicle, police said.
Campos was the only person hit by the gunfire. He was transported to a hospital in Maywood, where he later died, officials said.
Authorities said Campos was shot in the chest and he died just before 11 p.m.
Officials were able to locate the suspect’s vehicle in Leyden Township and Murillo was taken into custody.
Murillo was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting and is due in bond court on an unspecified day, WLS-TV reported.
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A GoFundMe, which has raised over $21,000, was created to help raise money for Campos’s funeral.
Ulysses was killed just two weeks before his own 10th birthday. His family said he loved to make people smile and laugh, WLS-TV reported.
One family member wrote on the GoFundMe that Ulysses was a "kindhearted, loving kid, he loved playing video games with his cousins, he had a creative imagination, and was always full of excitement."
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