During one of the bloodiest Independence Day weekend’s in Chicago history, a seven-year-old boy was killed when gang members came looking for his father. This weekend hundreds of Chicagoans turned out to mourn the boy’s death.
Seven-year-old Amari Brown of Humbolt Park was was murdered on Saturday, July Fourth when his gangster father was hunted down by enemies.
Since the murder, the boy’s father has been reticent to help Chicago police find the gangbangers who murdered his own son.
This Saturday, a week after the boy’s murder, hundreds of Chicagoans, including dozens of children, attended little Amari’s funeral.
Children of all ages attended the funeral, some donning t-shirts bearing images of the boy’s favorite cartoon characters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Antonio Brown and Amber Hailey accompany the casket of their 7-year-old son, Amari Brown, on a horse-drawn carriage at the Oakridge-Glen Oak cemetery in Hillside, Ill. (AP Photo/Christian K. Lee)
“This is the first time I’ve lost a kid in grammar school,” principal of the boy’s school Leif Ericson Elementary School, Leavelle Abram, said during the ceremony. “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.”
The boy’s father brazenly added a message to the funeral program.
“Please don’t tell me you know how I feel, unless you have lost your child too,” Brown’s message read. “Please don’t tell me my broken heart will heal, because that is just not true. Please don’t tell me my son is in a better place, though it is true, I want him here with me.”
The child was laid to rest in a white suit with a Teenage Mutant Turtles bow tie. Posters, balloons and other decorations from the cartoon filled the church.
Flowers, a stuffed bear and other mementos cover the casket of Amari Brown. (AP Photo/Christian K. Lee)
Along with neighborhood mourners, several politicians also attended the service including U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D, IL) and U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R, IL).
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com