Deshawnay Yoakum shot dead, a dancer who performed for six years in Chicago’s Bud Billiken Parade, left a trail of joy wherever she went. She had just started her first job as a cashier at a Culver’s and was getting ready for prom.

Yoakum celebrated her 18th birthday this month at UChicago Medical while battling for her life after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head.

On her birthday, March 9, her loved ones gathered around her hospital bed in the hopes that she would pull through, but the Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed that Yoakum had died four days later.

Yoakum was at her cousin’s apartment in Bronzeville on March 1. The circumstances surrounding his visit are unclear. The fatal head wound was discovered by her relative. Her situation was so severe that she had to be sent to UChicago Medical.

Chicago, IL March 13, 2023–The details aren’t clear, but on March 1 a teen girl was visiting a cousin at her Bronzeville apartment. The cousin found her shot in the head. She was taken in critical condition to UChicago Medicine where she died.

Chicago police said no one is in custody and detectives are investigating the circumstances leading up to the shooting.

The victim’s family said the cousin that the teen was visiting could be afraid to disclose what happened and didn’t blame her. The cousin is a mother of four. But the family hopes members of the Bronzeville community will come forward with details about who shot the teen.

The victim’s mother, Artamese Prewitt, sobbed during an interview, ”My baby, God, my baby.”

Prewitt said her daughter recently took senior pictures and was preparing for her upcoming prom. A lively and talented teenager, her daughter danced everywhere she went, her mother said.

“She just got her first job at Culver’s and had plans on becoming a CNA,” her mother said. “I never thought this would happen to you,” talking to herself aloud, speaking of her child.

Her daughter developed a love of dancing and never let it go, joining the Next Level dance team performing in front of crowds at the Bud Billiken Parade, a summer celebration of youth before school begins in the fall.

But instead of continuing to work toward her future, the teen spent her 18th birthday fighting for her life at UChicago Medicine attempting to recover from a gunshot wound to the head.

Family marked her birthday on March 9 gathered around her hospital bed, hoping for a full recovery, but four days later she was pronounced dead, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

So far in 2023, as of March 12, there have been 59 juveniles shot in Chicago, according to Chicago police. Yoakum was technically an adult when she died but is one of the juvenile gunshot victims.

“My baby had three parents. Two mothers including a stepmom and her father,” Prewitt said.

The teen’s 5-year-old sister, Chloe, is having a hard time understanding where her sister has gone.

“I explained to her she went where her grandfather went, but she asked, ‘Why?” Prewitt said. One of her younger brothers is grief-stricken and has yet to return to school since her fatal shooting.

The victim’s father, Fred Yoakum, was still in shock.

“I don’t understand why we haven’t gotten any information whatsoever. No phone call from detectives, even on the day our daughter died,” he said. “This is my worst nightmare. It’s been extremely difficult.”

Her mother said that everywhere her daughter went she put on a show. Now she must put on a show of strength until her daughter’s killer is caught.

“I’m scared to death, but I have to do what I have to do and bring whoever is responsible to justice,” she said, asking if anyone has information about the gunman to call police.

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