Police seek clues to slaying of girl, 14, in North Chicago
A 14-year-old high school freshman from Highwood was shot and killed early Sunday in North Chicago, according to police.
Adriana Avila left her home at about 9 p.m. Saturday to attend a party in North Chicago, according to an ABC 7 report. She was found shot dead just after midnight, roughly 13 miles from her Highwood home.
Avila was pronounced dead at the scene from a single gun shot to the chest, according to Lake County Coroner Dr. Richard Keller.
No arrests have been made as of Monday afternoon, but police said the area where Avila was shot is gang-infested, ABC 7 reported.
Avila's mother said she does not know why her daughter was at the party or how she got there.
She was last seen just before 9 p.m. outside the Highwood apartment building she lived in along with her mom and three siblings.
A witness said she spoke with Avila before she was shot.
"She said, 'This is my first time over here.' I was like, 'Girl, this isn't where you need to be or where you want to be.' She's like, 'I'm just here with friends. We're going to leave soon.' But soon never came," said witness Priscilla Brown.
Avila was a freshman at Highland Park High School, where her sister said she was excited about the cooking and photography classes she was taking.
"She was a big help around the house. She was like a second mom, such a good kid, because she was always there and would clean up and make sure everyone had done their homework," said Adriana Avila's sister Denise.
Although police said there were a number of people on the street at the time of the shooting, no one said they saw who fired the shot.
North Chicago police said two other teenagers were shot, but survived.
"We just want to know what happened to my sister," said Denise Avila. "She was a good kid and didn't deserve this to happen to her."
Lake County Major Crimes Task Force is heading up the investigation along with detectives from the North Chicago Police Department.
• Daily Herald Staff Writer Paul Biasco contributed to this report.