Darius Brownlee

Darius Brownlee was remembered by his family as a loving, respectful, and family-oriented man. The 25-year-old Black man was the fourth of nine children, raised by his grandparents. His older sister, Iesha Brownlee, described him as having a big heart, someone who loved God, church, and people. "He was just a loving type of person," she said. "If he was right here right now, he’d hug you, not shake your hand." His girlfriend of three years, Jasmine Jones, said he treated her two daughters as his own. The mother of his son, Precious Crittenden, recalled that he had a genuine heart and loved his son deeply. Iesha added that he was a dedicated father who took his kids to school every day. Though he had faced legal trouble in the past, his sister said that experience had set him straight and he had changed his life for the better.

In the days leading up to his death, Darius had been troubled by nightmares. His girlfriend, Jasmine Jones, recalled him saying he had a "bad feeling" and had dreamt he was shot. "He kept saying, ‘Baby, I had a dream I was shot. Baby, I had a dream,’" she recounted. This premonition tragically came true in the early hours of Sunday, August 21, 2016. Darius and Jasmine were sitting on the front porch of a brick two-flat in the 7000 block of South Artesian Avenue in Chicago's Marquette Park neighborhood, a home his sister described as a "trap house" where cousins dealt drugs. Family and friends said they had always warned Darius to stay away from that element of his family.

Around 2:49 a.m., a stranger approached the couple on the porch and asked if they had any marijuana. They told him no. The man lingered for a few minutes before asking again. When they again said no, the man opened fire. According to Jones, the shooter shot Darius in the arm and then in the head, right in front of her. She suffered a graze wound to her foot during the attack. Police reports state the shooting stemmed from a verbal altercation during a party at the residence.

When Chicago Police Department officers arrived, they found Darius Brownlee on the front lawn and steps of the home. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Paramedics were unable to save him, and he was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:00 a.m. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office later ruled his death a homicide. The scene was one of immense grief and shock as family members arrived. Jones screamed in disbelief as officers covered his body with a white sheet. "He’s not dead! Do not put that on him!" she cried before collapsing. His sister, Iesha, and the mother of his son, Precious Crittenden, also arrived, overcome with anguish. "I’m not ever going to get another one like him…I can’t believe this," Iesha cried.

The shooting was one of several homicides during a particularly violent weekend in the city. That weekend, at least five people were killed and more than 35 were wounded in shootings across Chicago. Neighbors on South Artesian Avenue told reporters that the house where Darius was killed had long been a problem, with loud parties and suspected drug dealing. One neighbor, the block club president, said he "knew this was going to happen."

Despite the accounts from witnesses, no arrests have been publicly announced in connection with the murder of Darius Brownlee. As of August 2016, police reported that no one was in custody, and the investigation remained ongoing. There have been no subsequent news reports indicating progress in the case, which is now considered cold.

In the immediate aftermath, Darius's family was left to grapple with their sudden and violent loss. His sister worried about telling their ailing grandparents—their grandfather with cancer and grandmother with Alzheimer's—that they had outlived their grandson. Precious Crittenden sobbed as she wondered how she would ever tell her son that his father was gone. "He loved my son, and my son loved his daddy," she said. Jasmine Jones, standing at the police tape for hours, just wished for the impossible. "I just wish he’d wake up and say, ‘Baby, I’m good,’" she said through tears. "That’s all I want him to say." The case remains unsolved, a painful open wound for a family who remembers a respectful and loving young man taken from them far too soon.