Jamie T Varvaris

Jamie T. Varvaris, a 37-year-old mother of three, was known by loved ones as a loving person with a heart of gold. A white woman who had attended Hubbard High School and later earned her GED, Jamie was building a life in Chicago. In the summer of 2016, her children were 10, 11, and 12 years old. She was also a daughter, a sister, and an aunt to three nieces and four nephews. Her family, including her sister Michelle Varvaris Becker, remember her with deep affection, noting that life would never be the same without her.

In the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, July 20, 2016, violence shattered the quiet of a residential street in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. Around 12:45 a.m., Chicago police officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 3200 block of West 62nd Street. When they arrived, they found Jamie on the sidewalk, suffering from a gunshot wound. Tragically, the spot where she lay was on the very same block where she lived.

Paramedics first rushed Jamie to Holy Cross Hospital for initial treatment. Due to the severity of her injuries, she was quickly transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital. An autopsy would later determine that she had died from a gunshot wound to the back. Despite the efforts of medical staff, Jamie T. Varvaris was pronounced dead at 5:58 a.m., just a few hours after she was found.

The family’s grief was compounded by confusion and a distressing lack of communication from authorities. According to Jamie's sister, official investigators never notified the family of the shooting. Instead, her parents, who lived in Florida, received a call from Jamie’s neighbors. The family then had to make a series of desperate phone calls to area hospitals to locate her. Her sister eventually went to Mount Sinai Hospital around 10:30 that morning, where staff informed her that Jamie had passed away hours earlier. "No officers or investigators notified my parents or next of kin," Michelle Varvaris Becker later stated. She identified her sister's body alone, without ever being contacted or interviewed by police at the hospital.

The Chicago Police Department began an investigation into the homicide, but information was not immediately made public. Authorities only released details about Jamie’s death more than a week later, on July 28, after her sister reached out to the Chicago Tribune to share the family's story and their struggle for information. At that time, police confirmed that no suspects were in custody and had not released a description of any potential persons of interest or a possible motive in the shooting.

In the days following her death, friends and family gathered to mourn their loss. A memorial service for Jamie was held on Sunday, July 24, 2016, at Kosary Funeral Home. To support her three young children, the family established a GoFundMe campaign. In an online tribute, her sister wrote, "I miss you every day, not a moment goes by your not in my thoughts. Your children love and miss, mom, dad, and our brother, his wife, and all your friends will keep your memories alive always."

Years have passed since Jamie Varvaris was killed, but her case remains unresolved. The investigation into her homicide is still open, but no arrests have been announced and no suspects have been publicly named. Her family continues to wait for answers and for justice to be served for the woman who was taken from them so suddenly on a summer night in Chicago.