Demetrius Flowers, 33, was fatally shot on August 4, 2019, during a block party on the West Side of Chicago in the 1800 block of South Kildare Avenue. He had returned from work and gone to the gathering with a friend when gunmen opened fire; seven other people were wounded. A ShotSpotter detector recorded nearly a minute of continuous shooting. Witnesses said Flowers, known as Meeche, tried to push people to safety as bullets flew.

The shooting came amid a violent weekend in Chicago that saw 55 people shot citywide, seven fatally, with much of the violence concentrated on the West and South sides. The Chicago Police Department linked the surge to widespread gun availability and what it described as inadequate punishment for weapons offenses. No arrests or suspects were immediately identified in Flowers’ killing, and Area Central detectives reported difficulty progressing because witnesses were reportedly uncooperative. Additional officers were deployed to the Ogden Police District after the shooting.

Flowers was remembered by family as humble and hardworking; a GoFundMe was started to help cover funeral expenses. Does anyone who attended the block party or who knew Meeche have information that could help investigators?