Shamiya Adams was remembered by hundreds Saturday with heartwarming memories and powerful words.
At the Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park, family, friends and community members gathered for the 11-year-old’s funeral, more than a week after she became a victim of Chicago’s gun violence.
“She just loved to dance and sing,” said her cousin Gerald Frazier. “Didn’t have a care in the world. She just wanted to play with her friends all the time, a very, very bright young lady.”
Many at the service were brought to tears as they walked past the young girl’s green casket.
“These type of services have to come to an end, we should be celebrating graduations not funerals,” said Rev. Renaldo Kyles with Chicago Public Schools.
Adams was shot and killed on July 18 when a stray bullet entered the West Side home where she was attending a sleepover.
Tevin Lee, 18, has been charged with her murder, police said. He was ordered held without bail Friday.
Besides friends and family, others, including Rev. Jesse Jackson and Gov. Pat Quinn, attending the somber service.
“Her grandmother nicknamed her queen and she was our queen and always will be our queen,” said Quinn, who donated $1,000 to the services.
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Following the more than two-hour service, Adams’ body was taken by horse-and-carriage to her grave site.
Many hope her death will bring Chicago’s ongoing violence to an end.
“I just pray that we can find some type of solution that we can make things better,” Frazier said.
