Ismail Abdulle was honored on Wednesday after he was killed during an assault in side of the taxi cab he was driving.
“Why?,” Abdulle’s sister Barlin said. “Take whatever you want, but why kill him?”
Abdulle, who leaves behind a wife and five children, was found dead in his cab on Christmas Eve in south suburban Blue Island. Police say he died from injuries sustained in an assault, and that the 54-year-old had been robbed in the city earlier that day.
Officials say it is still unclear whether the incidents are connected.
Abdulle was honored at the Muslim community center on North Elston Wednesday. He was honored as a man who was well known in the Somali community for his acts of charity and kindness.
“He was a person who went out of his way to help others,” Nazin Magera said. “He sometimes would give people free rides.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover his family’s expenses as they travel to the U.S. from Kenya.
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As mourners gathered to pray and to share memories, some expressed hope that justice will be served in the case.
“This makes no sense, but it is the decree of God,” Imam Feysal Mohamed said. “I just hope justice will be served.”
No one is in custody in connection with Abdulle’s death, and police are still investigating.
