Family mourns boy killed running for cover in Little Village shooting: 'He was my son and my best friend'

Santiago Aquino briefly peeked into his 15-year-old son Jerry's bedroom and watched as he soundly slept early Friday, not knowing it'd be the last time he saw his son alive.

"There are no words for that," Aquino, 38, told the Chicago Sun-Times about learning of his son's death. "I was thinking about many f- - - - - - things, I was not thinking right."

"He was my son and best friend," Aquino added.

Jerry F. Aquino was walking in the 2800 block of South Komensky Avenue around 5:10 p.m. Friday when a black Jeep Grand Cherokee with no front license plate turned west on 28th Street from an alley off Pulaski, according to police reports obtained by the Sun-Times.

When the Jeep turned onto Komensky and pulled up alongside him, its front seat passenger started shooting at him. Aquino began sprinting north, but was hit and "quickly crawled along the parkway and attempted to hide behind a parked car," the report said.

The same shooter jumped out and ran up to Aquino and shot at him while the Jeep's driver also began shooting as Aquino lay on the ground, the report said.

The two assailants, masked and gloved and wearing all black, sped away south and have not been arrested, according to police who said the entire incident was captured on public and private video.

The teen, who was born and raised in Little Village, was shot in the back, chest and left foot. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m., the police report stated. An autopsy determined he died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

He was on his way from welding training and was a block away from home when the shooting happened, according to Aquino.

"He was alone, he was walking by," Aquino said. "He didn’t pay attention to who was around him."

A witness told officers he heard five to six shots, according to police. Five shell casings of different calibers were found at the scene.

The witness, who told the Sun-Times he was a close family friend of Aquino, declined to comment Monday morning.

Aquino called for an arrest to be made in the shooting and questioned who would want to take his son's life.

"I want to see who did it and why," Aquino said. "[Justice] is important."

Aquino and his family were planning on purchasing a larger house to make more space for Jerry, his parents, his 17-year-old brother and 8-year-old sister. Now, the family's next steps are uncertain.

"Now we have no idea what's gonna happen," Aquino said.

The teen grew up idolizing Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo and began playing soccer to try and emulate him.

The elder Aquino, who coached his son's Marquette Park team for two years, watched soccer become his favorite hobby. When asked if there was any other activity besides soccer that he enjoyed, Aquino couldn’t think of one.

Jerry had curly, long hair and dark eyes with a small mustache and attended Infinity Math Science & Technology High School, Aquino said.

Aquino said the world will be "very different" without his son around.

"We were a family of five, now we're a family of four," Aquino said.