When Pastor Corey Brooks woke up to a call from his godson and soon to be co-worker Christion Tucker's mother saying the 21-year-old was fatally shot in Chicago Lawn Saturday night, he lapsed into shock, again.
It's not the first time Tucker's mother Shenee Benson and her family has had to navigate through an unexpected and violent death.
Benson's younger son, Tucker's 15-year-old brother, Chauncey Tucker, died in a South Holland crash involving an IDOT snowplow in 2018.
"It's hard to even talk about because it makes me just start tearing up," said Brooks, 55, a long-time friend of the Tucker family. "The first thing I wanted to do was just get to wherever he (Tucker) was and see what was really going on.... He was the last kid that you would think this would happen to."
"It was a traumatic experience for his entire family," Brooks said.
The last time Brooks, CEO of Project H.O.O.D., a nonprofit organization geared toward building communities and ending violence, spoke to Tucker was about a position Tucker was slated to start this week at the organization.
Tucker was smart, very respectful, and had a smile and attitude that always stood out.
"He was a good kid," Brooks said.
Tucker who died of multiple gunshot wounds in a homicide, was found about 7:15 p.m. Saturday in the 7200 block of South Washtenaw Avenue on the city's Southwest Side, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner's office said.
Relatives are offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest in Tucker's slaying.
BROTHERS TORN APART
As the family endured excruciating pain of losing Tucker over the weekend it also brought back memories of the two brothers: Chauncey and Tucker, a basketball player at a junior college with a passion for music, were tight.
Tucker enjoyed a "big brother, little brother" relationship with Chauncey, and even got a tattoo of his brother's name on his forearm when Chauncey died.
In losing him, Tucker became closer to Brooks, who felt responsible to help look after him. Then, Brooks was asked to be Tucker's godfather.
In June, Brooks and about 15 of Tucker’s friends and relatives celebrated his 21st birthday with him at Carson’s Ribs. They poked fun at Tucker as he sipped red wine and devoured prime rib for the first time, according to Brooks, who said it remains one of his most cherished memories.
"Everyone was laughing,” Brooks said. “It was a real fun celebration with great food.”
BROKEN PLANS, BROKEN HEARTS
Heartbreak returned over the weekend when they learned Tucker was killed.
"It's a major, major setback for their family," Brooks said.
Tucker was looking forward to starting work with his godfather.
"He was excited about being around and being a part of Project H.O.O.D.," Brooks said. "He was always nice and smiling."
Brooks, who has worked in gun violence prevention since the murder of Johnny Terrell Thomas, his 18-year-old best friend, in 1993 said while the suffering of losing his godson hurts it also highlights the importance of his work.
"I'm a pastor and if I feel the hurt and pain that I feel, I can only imagine how people who don’t have a spiritual foundation or don't have the support [are] feeling when they experience this situation in their lives."
No arrests have been made.
