A first cousin of basketball star Dwyane Wade was shot and killed, the unintended victim of gunfire as she pushed her 3-week-old baby girl in a stroller on the south side of Chicago Friday afternoon, police and a family spokesman said.
Nykea Aldridge, 32, a mother of four, was on her way to register her children for school in the Parkway Gardens neighborhood when she became another morbid statistic in a city numbed by a day-in, day-out torrent of gun violence.
“My cousin was killed today in Chicago,” Wade, who grew up in Chicago and recently signed with the Bulls, tweeted out Friday evening. “Another act of senseless gun violence. 4 kids lost their mom for NO REASON. Unreal. #EnoughisEnough.”
Rev. Edward Jones, speaking on behalf of the family, told the Daily News that Aldridge was about to walk into the Dulles School of Excellence when she was caught in a crossfire as two men opened fire on a third man around 3:30 p.m.
Aldridge was struck in the head and arm and died at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital, a Chicago Police Department spokeswoman said.
“The whole entire family is racked by this loss,” Jones said. “It’s just horrible, not just for our family, but for the entire city that this continues to happen.”
Aldrige’s baby was not injured, and police said a relative took custody of the child after the shooting.
"It's deep-rooted and it's something that didn't start today and something that's not going to end tomorrow but it's something that we can start a conversation on, something we can start the work today and hopefully, eventually we can stop it," a somber Wade said during a Thursday ESPN Town Hall.
As of Friday night, 2,739 people had been shot in Chicago this year with nearly 460 killed, according to statistics compiled by the Chicago Tribune.
Two men are in custody and were being questioned Friday evening in regards to Aldridge's death, a police spokeswoman said, adding that the mother of four did not appear to be the intended target.
The Chicago Bulls issued a statement Friday evening, saying the “entire organization is deeply saddened by the news of Dwayne Wade’s cousin.”
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