Kevin Ambrose lived only 7,056 days before he was violently and suddenly killed. But it’s Ambrose’s life, not his death, that his mother wants people to remember.
Ebony Ambrose, mother of 19-year-old Kevin Ambrose, heads back to court Sept. 15 to once again face the man who shot her son to death in 2013.
Kevin Ambrose, a Columbia College Chicago theater student, was on his way to meet a friend near the 47th Street Green Line Station on South Prairie Avenue, when he was gunned down in a drive-by shooting. Police, family and friends say he had no gang affiliations, and was known in his community as a good young man, according to published reports.
Jerome Brown, the man charged in the killing, has appeared in court several times since his arrest in 2013, but a trial date has still not been set. Ebony Ambrose said she won’t agree to a plea deal.
“It just feels like if I let it go, it will feel incomplete, or like I may have done my son a disservice by not allowing the person that did this to him to really stand trial,” Ambrose said.
Her son’s death was one of many gun-related homicides that year. According to the RedEye’s homicide tracker, an online database connected to the Chicago Tribune that tracks Chicago murders, there were 442 homicides in 2013, with 363 of those murders gun related.
While 84 percent of the gun-related homicides in 2013 involved blacks, Ambrose does not view this issue as limited to one racial group; she said violence has a number of triggering factors beside race.
“It’s a lot of things,” Ambrose said. “It’s being in the city. [It’s] kids that are poor, kids that don’t necessarily have good educations.”
“Our culture is so freaking violent now.”
Tracy Siska, executive director of the Chicago Justice Project, said it’s the community’s responsibility to step up.
Siska said that while lack of jobs and Chicago’s financial situation are partially to blame, if communities band together to steer youth in the right direction that could make a difference.
“We have a problem in these communities where kids wake up, especially males, and they don’t ever think about being 30,” Siska said. “We need kids in all of Chicago to wake up when they’re 10 and think about going to college.”
Pressure has also been placed on the police to better control neighborhood violence but Dan Dowling, a Chicago police officer, said police can’t do it alone; the community must do its part as well.
“I think the community can do far more than I can. [Police are] all reactionary,” Dowling said, adding that residents must be willing to point out the criminals in their neighborhoods.
In the meantime, Kevin Ambrose’s community has come together to honor his life, in hopes that fewer teens will meet the same fate.
A Facebook page named “Kevin Ambrose – 7056 Days of Life,” was created “to celebrate the life and spirit of Kevin Ambrose by spreading the word about youth focused programs, causes, movements, and performances.”
Ebony Ambrose said when people ask about her son years from now, she wants them to remember him as more than just a kid who died.
As for preventing further violence, Siska said youth involved in violent behavior need to be encouraged to consider the possibilities that lie ahead of them.
Siska pointed out that too many kids are unable to imagine what 30 looks like; they expect to be dead or in prison, and don’t think about marriage or living past a certain age.