Ishma Stewart was a 20-year-old journalism student at Loyola University Chicago who was shot and killed on May 4, 2008, while sitting in a car in the Canaryville neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Police suggested she was an unintended victim caught in the crossfire of a gang-related gunfight involving a high-powered assault rifle.

Raised with a passion for storytelling, Ishma graduated early from Oak Park and River Forest High School and aimed to pursue a career in journalism, hoping to write for major outlets. Friends and family remembered her as ambitious and determined; her brother recalled her persistence as she sought a summer internship just days before the shooting. Her poetry reflected concerns about poverty and the struggles she witnessed in her community.

More than 200 family and friends attended her funeral, where speakers denounced the senseless violence and mourned the loss of a promising young writer who had a strong desire to improve the world around her. If anyone knew Ishma, her activities, or has information about the shooting, please come forward with what can help the investigation.