Dekarlos Scott

Dekarlos Scott, a 15-year-old African-American boy sometimes known as "Karlos," was just beginning to navigate his teenage years in his home neighborhood of Roseland on Chicago's Far South Side. He lived with his family on the 100 block of West 110th Street, a residential block in a community with deep roots but also one long plagued by gun violence. His death in the summer of 2014 was a profound loss, not just to his loved ones, but to a city that was grappling with a relentless wave of shootings that disproportionately affected its youth.

The evening of Saturday, June 21, 2014, was a warm one. Around 10:10 p.m., Dekarlos was standing on a street corner with a 16-year-old friend near the intersection of West 109th Place and South Perry Avenue, just a single block from the safety of his own home. The two boys were talking when a car suddenly pulled up beside them. According to Chicago Police, several people got out of the vehicle, and without warning, unleashed a volley of gunfire directly at the teenagers. The ambush was swift and brutal. After firing, the assailants got back into their car and sped away, disappearing into the night.

The attack left Dekarlos with multiple devastating gunshot wounds, including a fatal one to his head. He collapsed on the pavement. Paramedics and police arrived within minutes, but there was nothing that could be done to save him. Dekarlos Scott was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:25 p.m. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office later officially ruled his death a homicide. His 16-year-old companion was struck in the shoulder during the hail of bullets. He was rushed to Roseland Community Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries and listed in stable condition.

The surviving teen later gave a harrowing account of the terrifying final moments of his friend's life. "We made it about five feet away from that gate, we heard, 'Pop, pop,'" he recalled. "I thought I seen my homey out the back of my eye fall and then I heard, 'Pop, pop.' That's when I got shot in the shoulder and I fell off curb and I got back up, and my shoes was off and I ran, I just kept going." His words paint a chaotic and heartbreaking picture of two friends ambushed, and one boy’s desperate flight for survival after watching his friend fall.

In the aftermath, the Chicago Police Department launched a homicide investigation. Detectives canvassed the area for witnesses and evidence, but the assailants had vanished. As officers worked the scene, a somber, makeshift memorial of candles and mementos began to grow on the corner where Dekarlos took his last breath, a quiet testament to the community’s grief. His murder was part of an especially violent weekend in Chicago, during which at least five other people were killed and more than two dozen others were wounded in shootings across the city.

Despite the initial investigation and the public attention drawn by the weekend's bloodshed, no suspects were ever publicly identified in the murder of Dekarlos Scott. The motive for the targeted attack remains unknown, and no arrests have ever been announced. The case quickly went cold, leaving his family and community without answers or a sense of justice for the teenager whose life was stolen from him on a summer night.

More than a decade later, the case officially remains open but unsolved. The individuals who got out of a car and shot two teenage boys, killing one, have never been held accountable for their actions. As of the latest available information from June 2014, no one is in custody for the homicide of Dekarlos Scott. The Chicago Police Department continues to accept information on unsolved cases, and anyone with knowledge of the shooting is encouraged to come forward.