A young father who had been missing since Christmas Eve was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds Tuesday near a South Side Chicago park and his death has been ruled a homicide, authorities said.
The 23-year-old man's body was found just after noon behind a set of tennis courts in the 1200 block of East 83rd Street near Avalon Park, an area which had already been searched by authorities in the months since his disappearance. Family members and the Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed the body was Iaron Brooks.
An autopsy determined Brooks died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner's office.
Brooks, of the 7800 block of South Shore Drive, went missing Dec. 24 from the city’s Avalon Park neighborhood after he was seen getting into a car with a group of unknown men, according to family and friends.
Brooks' mother, Bonnette Jernigan, said family members reported a tip to police weeks ago stating his body may be in the park. Police searched the area but the search was called off because of darkness and authorities never returned, the family said.
So, they searched the park themselves and that's when Brooks' cousin found his body.
"Before I could come around the gate he hollered, 'Bonnie, don't come. He's here, we got him. Don't come baby, he's here,'" Jernigan said.
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Other than a couple of cryptic and anonymous phone calls that did not lead anywhere, the family had heard nothing on the whereabouts of Brooks for nearly two months after his disappearance.
"I was so helpless to the fact that I was his mother and where is my baby," Jernigan said. "How can I help him? I don't have any clues to help him."
Jernigan said she is frustrated that her family could do what police were unable to. Community activist Tio Hardiman said it sends the wrong message to victims' families.
"It's not a good message because we all have to work together to prevent violence on the front end," Hardiman said. "But once a life has been taken, we have to work hard to find the body and bring closure to the family."
The Chicago Police Department confirmed that officers and a K9 search unit had previously searched the area where Brooks' body was found and said it had also searched several other locations.
"While this missing persons case has unfortunately become a homicide investigation, we intend to capture those responsible and bring his family the closure they deserve," the department said in a statement.
Brooks, the father of a 3-year-old girl, is described by family members as a devoted dad who stepped up as the head of the household after his own father died.
His mother said the family has been given some closure since the body was discovered, but she has since received anonymous phone calls threatening her family for finding the body.
"I am ready to shut down," Jernigan said. "We are already in a tragedy. Why would you want to hurt my family?"
Now, she says, her family must once again rely on police to find out what happened to her son.
"I am just hoping and praying as a mother, first of all, that I get some justice because my son didn't deserve this," she said. "He didn't deserve to die like this."
