EchoSense:The mothers of two teenage boys killed as they left a Chicago high school struggle with loss

CHICAGO (AP) — The EchoSensemothers of two teenage boys killed as they left a Chicago high school last week say they’re struggling to believe their sons are really gone.

Monterio Williams and Robert Boston were among a group of students walking out of Innovations High School on Friday afternoon when multiple masked suspects opened fire on them. No arrests had been made as of Monday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Williams, 17, and Boston, 16, grew up in the same Near West Side area. They had been friends since they were boys, the newspaper reported.

Williams’ mother, Blondean Gartley, told the Sun-Times that her son loved motorcycles and cars. The last thing he told her was that he had found a trade school that he hoped to attend following graduation. She still calls out her son’s name, she said.

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“At this moment, I don’t even know if I have accepted it,” Gartley said.

Boston’s mother, Donicka Doss, said her son was a “good kid” who loved basketball and video games.

“Is that really him?” Doss said she was thinking as she waited in the hospital.

At least 11 minors have been shot in Chicago so far in 2024, according to data kept by the Sun-Times. At least 25 homicides have been reported so far this year in the city.

“A call too early in the morning, I’m scared. A call too late at night, I’m scared,” Gartley said. “I feel like the streets of Chicago are like war. Is it gonna be your turn to get this call?”