With Dwyane Wade’s Cousin’s Death, Chicago Gun Violence Back in National Spotlight

The ongoing plague of gun violence in Chicago is once again drawing national attention with the killing of Nykea Aldridge, a 32-year-old mother of four and the cousin of NBA superstar Dwyane Wade.

Aldridge, who was an innocent bystander, was one of 84 homicides committed in Chicago in August, the most violent month in the city in more than 20 years. There have been 487 homicides and more than 2,800 people shot in the city so far this year, compared to 491 homicides all of last year and 2,988 people shot, according to the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Police Department.

Following Aldridge’s death, Wade and his family called for an end to the violence, which has plagued the city for years.

“The city of Chicago is hurting,” Wade tweeted to his six million Twitter followers. “We need more help& more hands on deck. Not for me and my family but for the future of our world. The YOUTH!” adding in a following tweet, “These young kids are screaming for help!!! #EnoughIsEnough.”

Over the weekend, Aldridge’s family held a vigil at the church where Wade’s mother is a pastor. Mourners talked about her love of fashion, writing and her four children — the youngest of which was just born on Aug. 1.

“She wanted to raise her family and see her family do better and was aspiring to do better herself,” Rev. Edward Jones Jr., a family friend, told the Daily Herald. “She’s warm, loving, joyful — that’s the only way I can describe her.”

Death Clouds Wade’s Chicago Return

Aldridge’s death reshapes the focus of Wade’s return to Chicago after spending 13 years in Miami as a member of the Heat. Wade, 34, who born in Chicago and raised in Robbins in the South Suburbs, discussed last month at a press conference after he signed a two-year $47.5 million contract with the Chicago Bulls the dream of returning to play for his hometown team.

“This is one of those moments that is a dream come true” Wade said at a July press conference with his family present. “Simply that. I’m a Chicago guy, a Chicago kid.”

With Aldridge’s death, there is renewed pressure on Wade and other Chicago-born professional athletes to speak out about Chicago’s gang and gun problem, and become public faces to the peace campaign.

Thus far, Wade has been up to the challenge. Through his Wade’s World Foundation, the NBA superstar offers community outreach programs. Ironically, just last week, Wade and his mother participated in a town hall meeting on ESPN that focused on violence in Chicago and urban communities.

Brothers charged

Two brothers, Darwin, 26, and Derren Sorells, 22, were charged in Aldridge’s death. Both were out on parole on gun and other charges, according to Chicago Police, who said the arrests highlight another cause of the gun violence – repeat offenders being freed.

Darwin Sorrells was sentenced to six years in prison in January 2013 on a gun charge and was released early on parole. Derren Sorrells is a known gang member who is also on parole for motor vehicle theft and escape, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, adding he has six felony arrests on his record.

“These two offenders are the prime example,” said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. “Of the challenge we face here, in Chicago, with repeat gun offenders that don’t care who they shoot.”

Calls for forgiveness and empowerment

Dwyane Wade’s mother, Jolinda Wade, a senior pastor of New Creation Binding and Loosing Ministry in Chicago, spoke on the importance of helping young men, such as the offenders, to transform their minds and find a better direction with their lives.

“We’re still going to try to help and empower people like the one who senselessly shot my niece in the head,”  Wade told reporters following Aldridge’s death. “We’re going to try to help these people to transform their minds and give them a different direction.”