13-year-old boy shot to death at Edgewater apartment remembered as 'the kid that everybody loved'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- On Tuesday night, Ashawn Davis' family gathered to host a prayer and vigil in the neighborhood where the slain 13-year-old Edgewater boy spent his younger years.

His mother, Teba Stewart, vowed to get justice for her son.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

"I just want justice. No justice, no peace," Stewart said.

Dozens of people gathered in a field in the Goose Island neighborhood, setting up cardboard cutouts of the 13-year-old.

Davis' family is emotionally torn by what happened. The teen was only a block away from his Edgewater home when he was fatally shot on Sunday night.

"Ashawn was the kid that everybody loved," said Shawn Childs, the victim's uncle.

Davis was named after Childs, who is the founder of anti-violence group House of Hope. Childs said his nephew's death has devastated this family.

I feel like I am in a dream, because I'm a 24-hour violence interrupter," Childs said. "For you to get a call, that your nephew, someone close to you has been murdered by the same thing you try to prevent, it's just mind-boggling."

Davis' family described the teenager as lovable and friendly to all as well as a great kid, athlete and musician.

"He was a great basketball player, a great basketball player, and he was real open, friendly, happy. You know, all the little girls liked him, and all the little boys liked him, because he was real connected. He was a kid people wanted to be around," Childs said. "It's just sad that the world we live in, a young boy can't be a kid, can't be an adolescent kid and have fun without somebody taking his life or targeting him. It's just sad day and world we live in."

The Sunday night shooting happened at an apartment in the 6000-block of North Kenmore Avenue.

"He was the youngest. He was the youngest boy in the family," Childs said. "He'd light up the room, just seeing his face, he always smiled. Like, he was a kid who was always happy."

When officers arrived, they found the 13-year-old with a gunshot wound to his head. He was taken to St. Francis Hospital, where he later died.

Davis' family was left unsure of how and why this happened.

"He lived a block from where it happened at, so he felt like he was safe. We didn't know at that time. We know it now that there was, like, seven shootings on the same block," Childs said.

City leaders said they are aware that the building and area where the shooting occurred has been plagued by an increase in violence and now, they are working with the building's owner and police to find out why.

"This was a good kid, and he don't deserve to die. He deserved to be alive, and we want justice for him. We want justice for him, because we shouldn't have to be burying this 13-year-old kid."

Chicago police said so far, no one is in custody in connection with Davis' murder.

INTERACTIVE SAFETY TRACKER Track crime and safety in your neighborhood