Romaine Elkins, 18, was killed by gun violence on June 9, 2017, in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. A resident of Naperville who attended Metea Valley High School and Indian Plains High School, he was remembered by friends and family as loving, caring, and smart. The community responded with hundreds of candles and public messages mourning the loss and describing the profound grief his death left behind.

Elkins’ homicide was one of many in Chicago during 2017, a year that continued to see young lives lost to gun violence even as overall homicides declined slightly from prior years. If anyone knew Romaine, saw him in Austin on June 9, 2017, or has information about his death, please come forward.