Deandre D Holiday

Deandre D. Holiday, a 24-year-old Black man known as a loving father and a passionate football enthusiast, was remembered by those who loved him as a "family man." A graduate of Hyde Park Academy, his love for football was a defining part of his life. His father, Renee Canady, recalled how as a child, Deandre would pretend to put on football pads and declare his ambition to play. His former football coach hoped others would be inspired to "touch lives like young DeAndre did." He was the father of three children.

The new year had just begun when Deandre’s life was cut short on January 1, 2016, marking the first homicide in what would become one of Chicago's deadliest years in nearly two decades. At approximately 2:20 a.m., Deandre was in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood on the city's South Side. An argument broke out in the 4600 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue, and another person pulled out a gun and opened fire. The shooter fled the scene immediately after.

Chicago Police officers arrived to a grim scene. The block was cordoned off with yellow tape, the blue lights of squad cars reflecting off the nearby brick homes. A tan Lexus was parked on the street with its driver's side door open. Deandre Holiday was found lying in the street next to the open door, surrounded by shell casings. He was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest. A second victim, a 38-year-old man, was also shot during the incident. He later arrived at Provident Hospital with a gunshot wound to his hand and was listed in good condition.

The silence of the early morning was soon broken by the arrival of Deandre's family and friends around 3:30 a.m. Their disbelief turned to raw, heart-wrenching grief as they saw his body. One woman, the mother of his child, screamed in the street, "Who shot him? ... That’s my baby’s daddy!" Soon after, another woman, identified as his mother, arrived and wailed as she approached the police tape, "That’s my baby! They shot my baby!" An officer gently led her away from the scene. A cousin, who wished to remain anonymous, arrived with other distraught loved ones. He told reporters that Deandre was a family man who wasn't involved in street life. "He was supposed to be in the house with his grandma," the cousin said. "He didn’t deserve any of this."

The Chicago Police Department launched a homicide investigation into Deandre's murder. The shooting was one of several violent incidents that occurred across the city during the New Year's holiday weekend, which saw a total of four people killed and at least 38 others wounded.

In the years since Deandre's death, there have been no public announcements regarding arrests or charges in his case. The investigation remains open, another unsolved murder in a year that recorded over 760 homicides in Chicago. His family's cries for answers and justice on that cold January morning still echo in a case that has grown cold. The identity of the person who shot and killed Deandre Holiday remains unknown as of January 2024.