CHICAGO - On Saturday afternoon, Donald Williams picked his 13-year-old son up from the dentist and drove him to a relative's house in Englewood, not knowing that car ride marked the last time they would be together.
Shortly after Deon entered the house, the seventh-grader joined his older brother and his friends in a room where everyone was playing craps, Donald Williams said.
Unexpectedly, one of the teenage boys stood up, pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at people as an apparent joke. It's not clear where the teen got the weapon.
"He was pointing a gun saying, 'Bang bang bang,' and he pointed it at Deon," according to Williams, 51, who said he got the account from others who were in the home at the time. "Deon told him, 'Stop playing with me,' and he was like 'Whatever,' and then (family members) said they heard the shot go off."
Deon was hit, police said, and taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 3:55 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. Deon is the youngest person to die from gun violence in Chicago in 2019, a year police have touted for dramatic reductions in shootings in its first three months compared with last year. Still, a 1-year-old boy was shot in the head last month, and a 12-year-old boy was shot in the hand on New Year's Day. In 2018, 40 children under the age of 13 were shot, according to Tribune data.
Chicago police Officer Jessica Rocco, a department spokeswoman, said Sunday that no one was in custody in connection with the shooting. Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesman for the department, said the boy who fired the gun fled the scene Saturday, and detectives were trying to make contact with his family. Officers recovered the gun that was used.
Williams said his family knows the boy who pulled the trigger because he lives down the block and often visits the house. Williams said he believes the shooting was an accident, but he urged the boy to turn himself in to police so he can face the appropriate consequences.
"Even the kid that killed (Deon), in my heart, I feel that kid is a victim too," Williams said. "I have seen this kid before a couple of times when I usually go over there. This kid is going to need therapy. I have no hatred toward him or his family."
Deon didn't live at the house in the 7300 block of South Aberdeen Street where he was killed, but he visited often because it was where his grandmother and other relatives stayed, Williams said. Deon, the youngest of 11 siblings and stepsiblings, resided with his dad and mom at another home in the neighborhood. His mother was diagnosed with cancer last year, said Williams, who said he struggles with congestive heart failure and has to wear a nasal cannula to deliver extra oxygen through his nose.
Deon attended Benjamin E. Mays Elementary Academy, his father said. He loved playing basketball, especially when he got to be shooting guard. At first he didn't like going to school, but he grew to love some of his teachers.
"He was a good kid. He was still learning," Williams said on Sunday. "Around me, he's daddy's baby."