Donatello Hererra was standing on the sidewalk, waiting for the Western Avenue bus, when someone in a dark-colored SUV opened fire striking the 35-year-old, according to police.
“I was hoping it was just a nightmare,” Hererra’s wife Amanda Garza told NBC Chicago. “That I was sleeping, and I would wake up from it. But it's not. It's reality.”
Herarra had just finished his shift at the Burger King restaurant at Western and Ogden.
He was rushed to nearby John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, where he later died, police said.
Herrera was a father of three.
“He was hard-working. He took care of his kids,” his wife said. “He wasn't a deadbeat dad. He wasn't a gang-banger. He wasn't into drugs. He didn't drink. He was a good man.”
Hererra’s family gathered Wednesday to remember their late father.
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“I always remember how much he loved us,” Garza’s son Dartagnon Herrera said. “Even if it would involve personal sacrifice, he would do whatever needed to make sure we were happy.”
His second son, Donatello Herrera II, shared similar memories.
“He was always looking out for the family, always trying to keep us together,” he said. “[But after] all that hard work, now look. He's not here. He was shot for no reason.”
The family is praying for someone to come forward with any information on his killer.
“We are going to stay strong and hope somebody comes with some more information, so we can get this murderer and put him behind bars,” Garza said.
It is a grim reality for Hererra’s family to cope with his murder only eight days before Christmas.
“He just got paid on Tuesday so our plans were to go out and get the kids some Christmas presents and to come back home and put the tree up,” Garza said. “That's not happening now, that's all I know. Because they killed him.”
