Antonio Perkins

Antonio Perkins, known to his friends and family as "Tony," was a 28-year-old father of three who was working hard to build a life for his children. His father, Daniel Cole, remembered him as a good person who was loved by many. Perkins worked almost every day at a McDonald's, where he had recently been promoted. Though Chicago police said he was a documented gang member, his loved ones insisted he had left that world behind and was focused on his job and his family. The grief of his death was compounded by the fact that his brother had also been killed by gun violence years before in the same neighborhood.

On the warm evening of Wednesday, June 15, 2016, Perkins was enjoying a rare night out. He was with friends and two of his young children on the 1600 block of South Drake Avenue in Chicago's North Lawndale neighborhood. Around 8:45 p.m., as dusk settled, he started a live stream on Facebook. The video captured a relaxed scene, with Perkins laughing and talking with friends while drinking from a bottle. A stroller can be seen in the background, and a small child's voice can be heard. For several minutes, the video shows a quiet, ordinary evening on a city block.

The peace was shattered in an instant. About six minutes into the broadcast, Perkins looked to his right, off-camera. Gunshots suddenly rang out, and the phone fell, tumbling through what appeared to be bloody grass. After the first shots, a flurry of up to ten more followed. The phone's camera went dark, but the audio continued to record the horrific aftermath. People began screaming, "Oh my God," and "Call the police! Hurry up!" Friends and bystanders rushed to his side, their voices filled with panic and desperation.

In the chaotic audio, people can be heard trying to help the mortally wounded man. "Tony, you good Tony. You good Tony," one person repeated, trying to offer comfort. Others shouted for someone to apply pressure to his wounds as they realized he was bleeding from his mouth and nose. "He's choking on his blood," a woman wailed. The sounds of sirens grew closer as people pleaded with him to hold on. "Tony, baby -- wake up!" a woman shouted. First responders arrived and could be heard telling people to move back. Perkins was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital with gunshot wounds to his head and neck. He was pronounced dead at 9:07 p.m.

The Chicago Police Department launched a homicide investigation, confirming they were aware of the video and were reviewing it as evidence. A police spokesman stated that Perkins was a convicted felon and was on a departmental list of people considered at risk of being involved in a shooting. Authorities believed the attack was gang-related. The graphic video of his death was viewed hundreds of thousands of times and remains on Facebook with a warning about its content.

Perkins’s family and friends were devastated, not only by his murder but also by the portrayal of him as a gang member. "My son was doing good. He wasn't involved in anything. He was going to work and taking care of his children," his father, Daniel Cole, said. A friend named Tiffany pleaded with the public, "Stop judging everybody. Stop judging us like that. His life really did matter." They maintained that he was not the intended target and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The murder of Antonio Perkins was the second shooting in Chicago that year to be captured on a Facebook live stream, highlighting a disturbing new reality of public violence. As of June 2016, no arrests had been made in his killing, and the investigation was ongoing. His death added to the hundreds of homicides that plagued Chicago that year, leaving three children without a father and a family mourning another senseless loss to gun violence.