Girl Dead in Shooting, 3 Others Hurt

Chastity Turner felt unsafe Tuesday in her grandmother's South Side neighborhood, unnerved by a daytime shooting spree launched by youths on the block.

A day later, the 9-year-old was dead -- gunned down as she washed a family dog with her father in front of her grandmother's house.

"She said, 'I think I need to go home because it's not safe over here'," recalled her cousin, Ericka Johnson, 37.

Turner was shot in her neck in a 7 p.m. Wednesday attack in the 7400 block of South Stewart. Later, she was pronounced dead at a hospital.

"Little babies die in our community every day," said Chastity's grandmother, Tanya Turner. "It is a sad thing. It was just my baby today."

Chastity's father, Andre Turner, 31, and two other men -- ages 17 to early 30s -- also were shot. The three all had non-life-threatening wounds.

Chastity was visiting her father and grandmother when a green van came down Stewart and the shots rang out. One of the wounded men ran into Tanya Turner's home and collapsed, she said.

The van left the scene, and the shooter remained at large Wednesday.

A van was later found three blocks away, but it was unclear if it was the one involved in the shooting.

Neighbors have complained how shootings have plagued the neighborhood.

Tanya Turner said shots were fired on the block for about 20 straight minutes.

"They were acting like this was the O.K. Corral," Turner said.

At least two other people have been shot on the same block since March, including a ninth-grader.

Chastity, a student at James N. Thorp Elementary School, liked to dance and jumped rope, said her cousin, Ericka Johnson, 37.

Of about 20 cousins gathered at the house on Father's Day, Chastity was the only one to accompany Johnson to a neighborhood park for a picnic. She showed off her latest dance moves -- the Ricky Bobby and the Stanky Leg, Johnson said.

Chastity had five siblings. Chastity lived with her mother at 75th and King.

She also spent time with the family's three pit bulls -- one of which she was cleaning when she was killed.

"She was active and involved in life and not scared to be herself," Johnson said.