Trevel Ridgell

Known to friends as “Trey,” Trevel Ridgell was a popular 17-year-old student at Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Chicago, where he was a talented member of the school’s drum line. Friends remembered the young African-American man for his vibrant sense of humor. A former teacher, Susan Walker, recalled having taught Trevel and several of his siblings, writing after his death, "Oh, how my heart is breaking now... this is hurting me as if my own blood had been shed. We must stop the senseless killing and save all of our youth."

On the night of Saturday, October 14, 2017, Trevel was spending time with a friend, 19-year-old Justin Gilbert. The two young men lived about a block from each other in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. At approximately 10:25 p.m., they were sitting together inside a parked van on the 8900 block of South Union Avenue, a residential street lined with brick homes and tidy lawns. Suddenly, a gray sedan pulled alongside them, and an occupant opened fire.

The barrage of bullets struck both Trevel and Justin multiple times. The sedan then sped off into the night. When police and paramedics arrived, they found both teenagers unresponsive inside the van. Trevel Ridgell was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:22 p.m., and Justin Gilbert was pronounced dead minutes later. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed their identities and ruled their deaths as homicides by gunshot.

The Chicago Police Department launched a homicide investigation, with Area South detectives leading the case. Investigators canvassed the area for witnesses and any available surveillance footage that might have captured the gray sedan before or after the shooting. In the immediate aftermath, police did not release a detailed description of the suspects or a potential motive for the ambush.

In the days following the shooting, a YouCaring fundraising page was established to help Trevel’s family with unexpected funeral expenses. At Phillips Academy, his loss was deeply felt. In a quiet tribute, one of his teammates wrote Trevel's name on their cleats, a small gesture to remember the friend whose presence and humor had been a staple at the school.

Despite the initial investigation, no arrests were ever announced in the murders of Trevel Ridgell and Justin Gilbert. As years have passed, their case has grown cold, joining the city's painful ledger of unsolved gun violence. The 2017 calendar year concluded with 650 homicides in Chicago, a decrease from the previous year but still a stark figure representing hundreds of lives cut short. The case remains open but inactive. As of October 2017, no suspects were in custody, and authorities have not publicly identified any persons of interest since. The investigation is still officially handled by Chicago Police Area South detectives, who urge anyone with information to come forward.