Congressman urges tough gun laws at funeral

CHICAGO — A Chicago congressman called for tougher gun laws and more investment in inner-city communities during a funeral Saturday for his 15-year-old grandson, who was shot dead after an argument over basketball shoes.

U.S. Rep. Danny Davis told worshippers that Javon Wilson was like millions of kids who “cannot live without the fear of not making it through another day.”

Wilson was shot in the head last week inside his home on Chicago’s South Side. Two juveniles — a 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl — have been charged with first-degree murder and ordered held without bail.

“Somehow or another we have not had the will to stop the flow of guns through our inner-city communities, where they run through like water running through the Mississippi River,” Davis said as he delivered the eulogy at Carey Tercentenary AME Church.

He also questioned how the teenagers responsible were able to get a gun.

Chicago has seen a spike in gun violence this year, with close to 700 homicides and nearly 4,000 shooting victims. In August alone 91 people were killed, marking the deadliest month in the city in two decades.

Police say Wilson knew the teens charged with killing him, and that they may have been friends at some point.

Davis said he was told a boy traded pants for shoes with Wilson’s 14-year-old brother but changed his mind and went to Wilson’s house with the 17-year-old girl. He said they forced their way into the home, where the teenagers argued before the boy shot Wilson.

Davis said he grieves for his grandson and for the people responsible for his death, saying they have been raised in a society and system that is deeply flawed. He said there hasn’t been enough done to create jobs in struggling neighborhoods, to improve education or to give young people hope.

Among those who attended the service were the Rev. Jesse Jackson, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool.