A grieving mother broke her silence Tuesday, just days after her husband and two young daughters were found shot to death inside their home in south suburban Hazel Crest.
Erin Ross was awakened by gunshots early Saturday, but she said she doesn't know where they came from. But they left three members of her family dead, and she's asking for help in finding their killer.
"Please, I'm begging you, please release any information that you have," she said at a vigil Tuesday evening.
Officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 2400 block of Crescent Drive in Hazel Crest at approximately 2:21 a.m. Saturday, according to police.
39-year-old Dionus Neely, 3-year-old India Neely and 10-year-old Ellie Neely were found inside the living room with multiple gunshot wounds, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner. Police said they were rushed to local hospitals where they were all pronounced dead.
"I just heard loud gunshots and it was nothing but the grace of God that kept me because I was in the same room," Ross said. "This is a horrible, horrible, evil, godless act."
No arrests have been made, and police said the killing was targeted, but have not elaborated on why. Authorities are searching for a suspect they called "a mad man."
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"Anyone who could kill a 3-year-old and a 10-year-old, no matter what the circumstances were, that's nothing but pure evil," Hazel Crest Police Chief Mitchell Davis III said at a news conference Sunday.
"You cannot commit a crime like the one that was committed yesterday, and no one know about it. Somebody knows about what transpired," he added.
"All this praying," family friend Linda Wooden said at Tuesday's vigil. "You've been praying for cars, you've been praying for success, pray for this killing to stop. Stop. Stop!"
Erin Ross has three other children. A GoFundMe has been established for her family.
Officers from the Cook County Sheriff's office and the Hazel Crest Police Department went door-to-door in the area over the weekend, asking community members for information related to the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hazel Crest Police Department at 708-335-9640 ext. 1
