Man killed at gas station was seeking ‘a better future’
Anandkumar Jaiswal was seeking “a better life, a better future, a better career,” when he moved to the Chicago area from India nearly three years ago, his uncle said.
But that dream died with him when the easygoing 24-year-old was fatally stabbed early Saturday during a robbery at the Streamwood gas station where he worked.
Following his funeral Tuesday, family members publicly pleaded for anyone who has information that could lead to his killer to talk to Streamwood police.
“Give us any information you have that can help us,” said his uncle, Ashwin Jayswal. “To kill someone for a couple hundred or a couple thousand dollars is not right.”
His employer, Thorntons Inc., on Tuesday raised its reward for information about the slaying to $25,000. The company initially had offered a $5,000 reward.
Jaiswal, who had studied computer science in India, was working at Thorntons to help support his parents and hoped to attend college in the United States, relatives said.
“I’m going to especially remember his smile,” said his aunt, Pratima Jayswal, recalling how happy he was after first arriving in this country.
“The first thing I saw was a big smile from ear to ear.”
On Saturday, he was working the overnight shift at Thorntons in Streamwood when he was stabbed repeatedly during a 4:30 a.m. robbery, police said.
Security camera images released by police show his killer was a man wearing dark-colored clothing, who had his hands and much of his face covered. He was wearing one light-colored and one dark-colored shoe, police said.