A mom is crying for justice after her seven-year-old son was shot to death while sleeping in their family van in East Chicago just blocks away from home.
Ollie Jean Holiness' son Jeremiah Moore was murdered on July 12 in East Chicago, Indiana, just over the border of the Chicago suburbs. It is located about 20 miles from the crime-ridden South Side.
Holiness told Fox News' Gianno Caldwell that her son was the greatest seven-year-old she ever knew. She described him as fun, loving, outgoing, and caring. She also said her son had a sense of humor.
Jeremiah passionate about stopping violence
She added that Jeremiah was a community activist who wanted to stop the violence in Chicago, and he let it be known that he did not like what was going on in his own city. The boy was passionate about those issues at the young age of seven years old.
Holiness said she never thought her own child would be a victim himself, even though murders were so often reported on the news. One simple stop at the gas station changed all that, with the shooting spiraling into a tragedy.
Holiness said that it went from just a simple stop at a gas station to her car being ambushed in three different ways, from behind, in front, and on the driver's side. She added that only a few bullets hit her car, but the one that came from behind proved fatal.
Jeremiah was sleeping in the family's van when the shots rang out, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Holiness said her oldest kid thought the sounds were fireworks until she realized the vehicle was being ambushed. She tried to find help at the fire department for Jeremiah, but no one answered. She then rushed her son to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Holiness wants justice for her son
Holiness, who left the Southside of Chicago for Indiana to find a better life, has since returned to the city to live with her family. She said that what Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx have been doing is insufficient.
According to the most recent Chicago Police Department statistics, which cover January 1 to July 22, murders have dropped about 16 percent to date this year compared to last. That being said, they are also about 30 percent higher compared to 2019. There were 1,598 shootings and 379 murder complaints recorded thus far.
Illinois State Police announced last month that Chicago-area shootings that fall within their jurisdiction are down 36 percent in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period the previous year. There was also a 90 percent reduction in homicides.
Holiness said her life would never be the same, but the lives of the killers, who are still at large, would go on to be normal. She told ABC 7 Chicago that cold-blooded murderers ambushed her car.
