On June 20, 2015, 21-year-old James Jones was fatally shot on the front porch of a home in the 8400 block of South Colfax Avenue on Chicago’s South Side while shielding his 46-year-old mother, Alicia Jones, from gunfire. The shooting happened around noon when a gunman emerged from a gangway and opened fire; James absorbed the bullets intended for his mother and died at the scene, while Alicia was left critically injured and hospitalized.

Family members described James as having a troubled past with drug involvement and prior incarceration, but they emphasized his final act as selfless and courageous. The family believes the attack was gang-related and that James was the intended target. This death added to a history of violence for the family: Alicia previously lost a 4-year-old son, Curtis Jones Jr., in 1994 to a Molotov cocktail attack on their home, and a daughter, Antoinette Means, was fatally shot during a workplace robbery in 2006.

Did anyone on or near South Colfax Avenue see the shooter or the events that day?