Memorial service planned for Trevon Johnson; family questions shooting
As family and friends prepare to remember and bury Trevon Johnson, the 17-year-old Villa Park-area teen shot and killed by a DuPage County sheriff's deputy, they say they still have many questions.
Johnson's uncle, the Rev. Alfonzo Singletary of the Tabernacle of Hope Church of God in Christ in Chicago, said they are finalizing plans for a Sunday afternoon memorial service at the church, 1233 W. 109th Place in Chicago, and for a Jan. 14 funeral service at Hope Community Advent Christian Church, 5900 W. Iowa St. in Chicago.
Singletary said family members are at peace as they make the arrangements, but they're also still searching for answers.
Johnson was shot late Sunday night when the deputy responded to a domestic violence call in the Brandywine neighborhood.
The deputy told investigators he believed Johnson had a knife. Family members say that isn't true.
"We're aware of the multiple 911 calls being released, but there's a few things that were said there that need to be clarified," Singletary said.
He declined to elaborate.
The calls include Trevon's sister, brother and another person in the house telling dispatchers Trevon was breaking things and "going crazy," had shoved and struck at least one person and had grabbed a knife and glass. Apparent gunshots are heard more than five minutes after Trevon's brother made the second call from inside the townhouse on Standish Lane.
Singletary said a report the family has seen, which he says indicates the deputy fired "six or seven shots," also has raised questions.
"If he was close enough to shoot Trevon three times, where in the house are those other four bullets?" Singletary said. "How many other people were in danger if this officer was just wildly firing off shots?"
DuPage County Coroner Richard Jorgensen declined to confirm how many times Johnson was shot, saying his pathologist was still conducting the investigation. An earlier report from his office identified "multiple gunshot wounds" as the preliminary cause of death.
Illinois state police, who have taken over the investigation, also declined to offer any new information Thursday.
"ISP Zone 1 Investigations was requested by the DuPage County Sheriff's Office to conduct an independent Officer Involved Shooting investigation for an incident that occurred in unincorporated Villa Park," Master Sgt. Matt Boerwinkle wrote in an email Thursday. "Upon completion, the results of the investigation will be forwarded to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office for review. The case remains an open and ongoing investigation."