‘A senseless crime’: Family speaks out after 20-year-old woman shot, killed in Englewood

CHICAGO (WGN) – The family of 20-year-old Janiyah Watkins, who was shot and killed in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood early Tuesday morning, gathered in her hometown of East Chicago, Indiana, on Wednesday to support her mother Deneen Winters.

According to Deneen, Janiyah and two of her best friends were leaving a party early Tuesday morning. They were in a car at the intersection of 72nd Street and South Green Street with Janiyah in the driver’s seat when shots rang out.

“Somebody walked up to their car, guess asked them a question, and then started shooting,” Deneen said. “My eyes so dry. I don’t think I can cry anymore right now.”

On Wednesday, Deneen wore a necklace that spelled “Janiyah.”

“I had just bought her this. She hadn’t even worn it yet,” Winters said.

Janiyah was shot in the back and died from her injuries. The two other people in the car, a 17-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man, were both injured.

Deneen said another friend was able to escape unharmed and called his mother.

“”She called me…and said, ‘Someone is shooting at our kids right now,’ and her son said, ‘Mom, they’re shooting at us. They’re [trying to] kill us,'” Deneen said.

Deneen described her daughter as loving, funny and talented. She played basketball for East Chicago Central High School and South Suburban College.

“She was the glue to a lot of people. She kept a lot of people together,” Denee said.

Janiyah leaves behind five siblings, including a twin brother.

“It was a senseless crime,” Denee said.

Janiyah’s family is planning to hold a balloon release in her honor on Friday. They’re urging anyone with information about who may have killed her to call Chicago police.