A Month Later, Family of I-290 Shooting Victim Wants Answers

Weeks after he was shot to death on I-290, Jonathan Ortiz's family is asking for answers.

Ortiz, a Chicago rapper, was killed in a shooting that shut down the Eisenhower Expressway for hours near Chicago's East Garfield Park neighborhood on Sept. 29.

“This should not happen to anyone on the 290 going to eat breakfast,” Ortiz's mother Jackie said Tuesday.

Just before 6 a.m., ISP officers responded to reports of shots being fired in the westbound lanes of I-290 near Laramie Avenue, officials said at the time.

Police confirm: at least one person shot near I-290, WB at Laramie, PD on frontage road #NBCSky5 @nbcc @KyeMartinNBC pic.twitter.com/WcQLaI2mFX
— Kye Martin (@KyeMartinNBC) September 29, 2016

Family members identified the 22-year-old Ortiz at the time, a rapper who went by the name of John Doe. Ortiz was known for his performances at venues that include the House of Blues and was on his way home after getting food with his girlfriend Alexis Garcia when someone opened fire, his family said.

“All he cared about was family, trying to get out the bad neighborhood,” Ortiz’s brother Pedro said. “Try to get somewhere better.”

Police said there have been 47 shootings on Chicago expressways, nine of them on I-290.

“I need justrice for my son, this is too man, 47, how many more?” Ortiz’s mother, Jackie, said.

“I’m going to tell you right now, [Jonathan] was not in a gang, he was not affiliated with any gang, his whole family works,” said Sharee Washington, Ortiz’s friend.

State Police say the shooting is an open and active investigation. Family now offering a $2,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest.