A Chicago family is left holding onto happier memories after their patriarch was gunned down in Logan Square over the weekend.
According to Chicago police, 72-year-old Cesar Patino was leaving a family gathering in the 3900 block of West Fullerton at approximately 10 p.m. Sunday when he was shot in the chest by an unknown assailant.
Devastated family members say that there were grim signs that he had tried returning to the home after he was shot.
“There’s a trail of blood going toward the direction of the house,” Karen Patino, Cesar’s granddaughter, said. “So we think that he was probably trying to come back to us, trying to come back to the house to ask for help.”
Cesar’s other granddaughter Kimberly, trained in first aid, tried to help her grandfather.
“I was like ‘you’re gonna be okay,’ because he was trying to talk,” she said. “I saw his mouth trembling, and he looked like he was there (mentally), so I just thought that he was going to be fine.”
Cesar was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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Family members are now left to remember the beloved grandfather, who was described as the life of every party he attended, including the one he was leaving when he was shot Sunday.
“He was a young spirit. He was a party, and when I say party, I say party,” Karen said. “I think that’s what allows me to speak right now, because I have nothing but good memories of him.”
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Family members say they will treasure their memories of him, but they’ll also have one final heirloom: a group portrait taken at Sunday’s party, showing a loving family unaware of the tragedy it was about to face.
“That’s our last picture, but we have that picture, and it’s a nice memory that we’ll have of him,” Karen said.
