Vogels T Anderson

Vogels T. Anderson Jr., a 19-year-old Black man known to his family and friends as “Stormy,” was remembered for his goofy, joke-cracking personality and a smile so bright it once won him an award. His mother, Sarah Wicks, described him and his friends as "good boys" who were not involved in street life. Vogels attended Ralph Ellison High School with his best friend, Ryan Hamilton, and was reportedly studying civil engineering in college. His father, Vogels Anderson Sr., called him a planner and a "take-charge type of guy." Vogels and his brothers traveled often with their mother, who wanted them to see that they had options in life. He had recently told his mother he wanted to leave Chicago after finishing school because of the city's pervasive gun violence.

On the evening of Sunday, March 12, 2017, Vogels and Ryan, 20, left Vogels' house after 5 p.m. They had plans to meet up with their friend, 18-year-old Devontae Watson, and a larger group to go to an indoor trampoline park. Around 6 p.m., a friend spoke to Hamilton by phone and was told he and Vogels were driving down 79th Street. Later that night, when Vogels didn't respond to his mother's text, she grew worried, which was unusual for him. Hamilton's mother, Tami Campbell, also felt a deep sense of dread when her son, who always responded, failed to answer her text message.

The next morning, Monday, March 13, 2017, a resident in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on Chicago's South Side called police to report an illegally parked Chevrolet Monte Carlo. At about 7:35 a.m., officers arrived at an alley in the 8600 block of South Throop Street and made a devastating discovery. Inside the car, which belonged to Hamilton, they found the bodies of the three young men. One was in the front seat, one in the back, and the third was in the trunk. There had been no reports of gunshots in the area.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office later determined that all three deaths were homicides. Vogels Anderson Jr. had been shot once in the head. Ryan Hamilton was shot in the neck, and Devontae Watson had been shot multiple times. It remains unclear exactly when the shootings occurred. Vogels and Devontae lived in the Ashburn neighborhood, while Ryan lived in the south suburb of Blue Island. Their families said the young men had no ties to the Auburn Gresham neighborhood where they were found.

The investigation into the triple homicide was handled by Area South detectives with the Chicago Police Department. In the days and weeks that followed, the mothers of the three victims pleaded for answers and for witnesses to come forward. "What’s hurting me the most, I really want to know who and why," Sarah Wicks said. "Why would y’all want to do this to them boys?"

A month after the killings, in April 2017, the victims' families canvassed the neighborhood, going door-to-door handing out flyers. They were joined by Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Parish, who announced a $5,000 reward from the St. Sabina Reward Fund for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. The mothers released balloons at the crime scene in memory of their sons. "He was funny. He was very talented, wanted to be a model one day and someone pretty much played God and took his life," Wicks said of her son, Vogels.

As of March 2018, one year after the murders, the case remained unsolved, with no arrests made. The families gathered again at the corner where their sons were found, begging for someone to break the silence and provide the information needed to bring the killer or killers to justice. The case is still open, and detectives continue to investigate.