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Swaysee Rankin, shot along with his 14-year-old cousin Monday, had applied pressure to the wound of the young girl at a park in October

When 10-year-old La’Mya Sparks was shot in the back last fall, her 13-year-old friend Swaysee Rankin took off his shirt and applied pressure to her wound, staying with her until paramedics arrived.

Six months later, tragedy struck the friends again. This time it was Swaysee who was shot as he walked with his 14-year-old cousin Monday night in the South Chicago neighborhood, just a block from the earlier shooting.

“After we got the news, La’Mya ran through the house screaming, ‘Swaysee got shot!’” said the girl’s mother, Shawnta Williams.

Her daughter was one of the first people to check on Swaysee at the hospital, just like Swaysee had done for her every day. Swaysee’s family said he and his cousin were out of surgery Tuesday and were talking.

The teens were walking on a sidewalk in the 8200 block of South Coles Avenue around 9:30 p.m. when someone in a car fired shots, according to Chicago police. The car, possibly a red Jeep Cherokee, backed up south on Coles and sped off.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Swaysee’s mother, Ashley Jackson, told reporters outside Comer Children’s Hospital Tuesday that the shooting appeared to be random.

“My son is absolutely not gang-affiliated from my knowledge. It was a drive-by shooting, just something random,” she said. “He left out of one house and he was on the way to the next with a group of friends and somebody just pulled up and started shooting.”

Swaysee suffered gunshot wounds to the back and abdomen, while the 14-year-old was shot in the chest and abdomen, police said. They were both listed in critical condition when brought to the hospital.

Jackson credited police officers for rushing her son by squad car to Comer. “The police transported him in the police vehicle instead of waiting for EMS, which ultimately saved his life,” she said. “So I feel like my baby was a hero to somebody, and somebody returned the favor.

“Some people don’t make it outta this at all, and for them to be little boys, they’re strong, super strong, and it’s a blessing,” Jackson said.

Swaysee has not said much while in the hospital but did tell his family, “I can’t believe I got shot,” according to the boy’s stepfather, Wayne Looney.

“They were walking like regular little boys having fun outside,” he said as he waited with Jackson outside the hospital Tuesday afternoon.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

So far this year, eight children 13 years or younger have been shot, according to Sun-Times’ records. Two of those children died: Jaslyn Adams, 7, and Ny’Andrea Dyer, 11.

The youngest victim this year, 22-month-old Kayden Swann, was moved out of the intensive care unit last week after he was struck in the temple during a road-rage shooting on Lake Shore Drive near Grant Park.

The number of shootings involving young children is still behind the pace of 2020, when 12 children 13 or younger had been shot over the same period.

La’Mya’s mother said her daughter is still traumatized by the shooting last October at Russell Square Park, and she worries about Swaysee. The two met at Powell Academy at 75th and South Shore and have remained close friends since, Williams said.

“They spent almost every day together at the park. They played, just being kids. You’d never think your kid playing at the park would lead to them getting shot. But that’s what ended up happening with La’Mya,” Williams said.

La’Mya was shot in the middle of her back as she ran from gunfire at the park’s tennis courts. She collapsed, got up and then fell again, according to a police report. That’s when Swaysee rushed to her, took off his shirt and pressed it on La’Mya’s wound until paramedics arrived, the report states.

La’Mya underwent two surgeries and still uses a feeding tube, Williams said.

“Physically, she’s getting there. But mentally, it’s going to take some time,” she said. “When she hears the gunshots, whether it’s during the day or night, she screams and hollers. She’s so traumatized by the sound of a gunshot.”

Williams said Swaysee was a “good … man of a boy” who often checked in on La’Mya after she was shot. He recently supported La’Mya’s sale of chocolate-covered strawberries, coming over to buy a box and give hugs, Williams said.

“I don’t understand why this happened to him,” she said.

No one was in custody, police said.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.

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“We have to make them theft-proof, child-proof, and as accident-proof as possible. In an age of technological innovation, this is not an unsolvable problem,” said Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain.

Some Chicago-area officials have joined a multi-state effort to seek out ideas for gun-safety products.

The Gun Safety Consortium, a group of elected officials, religious leaders, and law enforcement officers from across the country, called Tuesday on gun vendors and other innovators to submit proposals for technologies and features that can make guns safer.

“We have to make them theft-proof, child-proof, and as accident-proof as possible. In an age of technological innovation, this is not an unsolvable problem,” Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain said during an online news conference.

Proposals received by June 1 will be screened by a panel of law enforcement officials from the consortium. They will identify those with the most promise and purchase limited quantities for hands-on evaluations by police officers.

Some gun owners won’t use safety features because they fear won’t be able to fire their weapon quickly when they need to defend themselves, explained Daryl Green, chief of police from Lansing, Michigan. That’s why products will be evaluated for usability and mobility that ensure security while also granting owners quick access.

“Whether you’re a global gun manufacturer, or a startup in a garage or basement, we want you to bring us what you’ve got. If you’ve got a product that can help gun owners secure their firearms, we want to know about it. We want the opportunity to fully evaluate it, and we may want the opportunity to purchase it,” Green said.

When the evaluation ends in early fall, the group will share findings with all participating cities, identify which products fill a need for both police officers and civilians. The process will then likely be repeated.

“Throughout all of this, the consortium will continue to build more buying power. We’ve got some of our key recruiters from the consortium here today,” said DiAne Boese, mentioning Park Ridge Police Chief Frank Kaminski by name.

Boese is with Do Not Stand Idly By, a campaign organized by the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation aimed at ending gun violence.

“We’ll be asking cities, who are large-scale purchasers that haven’t joined yet, to commit, Boese said. “Cities like Chicago and New York.”

Other local participants in the consortium are Deerfield, Highland Park, Oak Park, the Hazel Crest Police Department and the Cook County and Lake County sheriffs’ offices.

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Felicia Rose Chavez’s book challenges how educational institutions support people of color—and provides a blueprint to be better.

“How do we define ‘professional?'” It was the warm-up question for a social justice workshop I am currently a part of. The answers ranged from clothing to conversation to language used in a workplace or to be eligible to enter a workplace.…Read More

This year’s CIDF offers three days of workshops and film screenings celebrating everyday movement.

“I don’t think there’s much difference between dance and everyday movement except for intent,” says dancer Robby Lee Williams. “Are you feeling out some rhythm, some music in your head?…Read More

Jaslyn and her father were in a silver Infiniti on April 18 at a McDonald’s, 3200 W. Roosevelt Road, when two gunmen got out of an Audi and fired into the vehicle, authorities said.

A second man has been charged in the shooting death of 7-year-old Jaslyn Adams at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Homan Square earlier this month.

Demond Goudy, 21, of Homan Square, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the April 18 attack, Chicago police said.

Goudy was taken into custody about 6:50 p.m. Monday after he left a home in the 1500 block of South Springfield Avenue, police said. A SWAT team assisted in his arrest.

Chicago Police Department

Last week, a man suspected to also be involved in the shooting was shot by police while allegedly trying to carjack a family on the Eisenhower Expressway.

Prosecutors said Marion Lewis, 18, was the getaway driver but did not fire any of the shots that killed Jaslyn or wounded her father, 28-year-old Jontae Adams. Lewis was ordered held without bail last weekend.

Jaslyn and her father were in a silver Infiniti about 4:20 p.m. at a McDonald’s, 3200 W. Roosevelt Road, when two gunmen got out of an Audi and fired into the Infiniti, authorities said. One of the shooters was using a “Draco,” AK-47-style assault weapon with a “banana clip,” prosecutors said.

Police would not confirm whether Goudy was believed to be one of the shooters.

He is due in bond court Wednesday.

Contributing: Tom Schuba

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A lawsuit against two volunteer coaches was dismissed. But in settling a separate lawsuit, Jackie Robinson West acknowledged some players from the 2014 squad were ineligible. The team’s title won’t be reinstated.

A lawsuit involving Jackie Robinson West, the Little League team that captivated the country in its historic championship run in 2014, has been settled and a separate lawsuit against the team’s two coaches has been dismissed, according to those involved with the case.

Volunteer coaches Darold Butler and Jerry Houston were caught up in the legal battle over whether Jackie Robinson West used ineligible players. Eventually, Little League stripped the team’s national title.

John Bowley, an attorney for Butler and Houston, said the dismissal has exonerated his clients.

The team’s title, however, will not be restored, a Little League spokesman said Tuesday.

“Little League International is pleased that this matter is now concluded, and that the players can move forward with our best wishes for success in their future endeavors,” said Kevin Fountain, spokesman for Little League International. “The settlement agreement speaks for itself, and Little League International will have no further comment on this matter.”

Fountain said Little League stands by its decision to disqualify the 2014 team, and that the Jackie Robinson West organization acknowledges certain players were ineligible.

The players themselves, however, did not know they were ineligible, he said.

Jackie Robinson West was the talk of the spring and summer of 2014 as they earned a chance to compete in the Little League World Series. The team was made up of 13 boys, ages 10 to 12, from Chicago’s South Side.

The all-Black team spent two weeks on the road, eventually defeating a team from Las Vegas to win the U.S. Championship, though they lost to a team from South Korea in the World Championship game.

In Chicago, the team was celebrated with a pep rally at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. They also went to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama and were invited by Major League Baseball to attend that year’s World Series in San Francisco.

But not long after the historic run, coaches from a rival team came forward and accused Jackie Robinson West of using ineligible players from outside league-approved boundaries.

Little League teams are assigned specific areas in which players must live or go to school to be eligible to play for that team. Little League initially denied the allegations but later said the president and treasurer of Jackie Robinson West created a false league boundary map.

Little League then demanded the pair be removed and, ultimately, revoked the championship title.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Each of the 13 players later sued Little League Baseball, Jackie Robinson West Little League, Inc. and its administrators — though the players did not sue the two coaches.

Little League responded with a counterclaim against Jackie Robinson West’s administrators and also Butler and Houston.

Those cases involving the players and administrators of Jackie Robinson West were settled this week. The case against Butler and Houston were dismissed last week.

“Some adults involved in the 2014 Jackie Robinson West program cheated. They created fake eligibility documents to make it look like some kids on the team lived where they didn’t,” Bowley said during a news conference Tuesday. “My clients, however … were not among them.”

Bowley said three years of litigation and over six years of investigation by Little League International failed to produce “a single document showing or even suggesting that either Darold or Jerry had anything to do with any fake map scheme.”

Bowley went on to say it was a shame Little League didn’t reinstate the championship, considering the players and coaches had no idea anyone was ineligible. He said the punishment was too harsh and noted the Houston Astros kept their 2017 World Series championship even after a sign-stealing scandal.

“There’s no question that grown adults, including players on the Astros, cheated in that scandal. Yet they didn’t lose their title,” Bowley said. “But a group of children who everyone agrees did nothing wrong, and their volunteer coaches, should face the ultimate penalty?”

Butler and Houston said they remain committed to Little League and will continue to coach, but are saddened by the last six years.

“The way these kids have fought from 2014 until now, it was only right for us as coaches to do the same thing and show the same example,” Butler said.

Houston agreed that. as both a father and coach, it was important to not settle with Little League, just as, during the championship run, they had told the players to never give up.

“We knew we had … no involvement with all of the things that they were saying,” Houston said. “So it was important for us to fight, like we had asked the kids.”

Sun-Times file

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A new building filled with social service and education amenities at Altgeld Gardens is a test case for the limits of design and architecture.

Drive south on the Bishop Ford Expressway to Altgeld Gardens and you’ll pass plenty of reminders you’re in a landscape not meant for inquisitive visitors. There are looming grain silos next to a parked shipping freighter, a village-scaled water reclamation plant, and plenty of anonymous warehouses.…Read More

After a year of heartbreak, Heather Chrisler is back to acting, as well as writing and illustrating.

In March 2020, playwright Heather Chrisler was holding auditions for the world premiere of her first play: an adaptation of Little Women at First Folio Theatre, where she’s an artistic associate. Actor Heather Chrisler, meanwhile, was in tech for The Last Match at Writers Theatre.…Read More

Maybe this is just what happens in 2021, when players and coaches come and go like never before.

It’s almost like the whole thing never even happened.

Illinois’ best basketball season in a decade and a half, that is.

Has it really been only a month and change since the Illini took the court as a No. 1 seed against Loyola in the second round of the NCAA Tournament? Since then, they’ve staged one heck of a disappearing act. That’s not a commentary on their performance against the Ramblers, though the loss was a major upset and Brad Underwood’s team didn’t exactly meet the moment with a sustained roar. It’s not even a criticism at all, really.

It’s just that the llini have managed to go — quickly and, if your attention has been awash in other sports lately, quietly — from championship contender to who knows what? From the catbird seat to a sort of chaos. From classically constructed to almost unrecognizable.

Maybe this is just what happens in 2021, when players and coaches come and go like never before.

“It’s about continuing to build the best roster you can,” Underwood told reporters last week. “It’s our new culture. It’s our new world.”

But just get a load of all that has been swirling around All-American guard Ayo Dosunmu’s expected announcement on April 6 that he was entering the NBA draft.

After starting all 31 games as a freshman, guard Adam Miller — like Dosunmu, a major recruit out of Morgan Park — announced on April 1 that he was entering the transfer portal. Why? Why not? Everybody who’s anybody these days is on the move. All it takes is a voice in your ear and a willingness to change sweatpants.

On April 18, star center Kofi Cockburn wrote on Twitter, “The NBA has been a life-long dream of mine and I am ready to go to the next level and see what’s in store for me.” It’s possible, though, that Cockburn — still working out in Champaign, reportedly without having hired an agent — will elect instead to stay put. That’s what teammate Trent Frazier did a couple of days later after testing the NBA waters, taking advantage of an extra season available to all seniors after a pandemic season. It’s what fellow veteran guard Da’Monte Williams may or may not do himself. Veteran big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili, on the other hand, opted to turn pro and meant it.

Meanwhile, Underwood has more bowls in the air than halftime act Red Panda. Illinois picked up Utah sharpshooter Alfonso Plummer and Florida big Omar Payne through the transfer portal. It must figure out what to do with former transfer guard Austin Hutcherson, who continues to work his way back from injury and hasn’t played in a couple of years. It has Luke Goode and R.J. Melendez headlining a top-four recruiting class in the Big Ten and several others still on scholarship who filled varying roles last season.

Without Cockburn, Illinois likely will run and gun and shoot more threes than just about anybody in 2021-22. Re-enter an unstoppable pure back-to-the-basket scorer into the mix, though, and the entire look changes.

The Illini could have as many as five or six new faces in their rotation, and some of them might not even be on our radar yet. That’s because two of the main architects of Illinois’ success — assistant coaches Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman — could be on the move themselves and even taking some Illini players and/or recruits with them.

Antigua delivered Cockburn and point guard Andre Curbelo — potentially the next All-American player in the program — and led the way on Plummer and Melendez. Coleman was the man on the Dosunmu and Miller fronts and is Underwood’s biggest “in” to Chicago. Both Antigua and Coleman are reportedly under heavy pressure from Kentucky’s John Calipari to swap their Illini gear for Wildcats gear.

And then what? Underwood could find himself scrambling for assistants and diving back into the transfer portal with extreme urgency.

“We’re in a great place, let’s put it that way,” Underwood said. “We’re in a really, really good place.”

But it’s impossible to know that at this point. Who’s going, who’s coming, how disparate pieces will fit together — an absence of answers equals quite a state of flux.

JUST SAYIN’

• Justin Fields is already the one that got away. Just ask any fan of the Georgia Bulldogs.

That NFL teams saw how the 6-3, 228-pound quarterback performed after transferring to Ohio State and still might allow him to be the first-round QB who slips on draft night is sad, silly and, of course, predictable. There’s something about being the best player on the field in a giant college game that just seems to repel pro talent evaluators.

Come on, Bears: Move up and get this guy if you can.

The tallest tasks for BYU’s Zach Wilson last season were to go up against Boise State and Coastal Carolina. Alabama’s Mac Jones might as well have had lawn furniture in the backfield, as seldom as he was pressured (let alone hit). Trey Lance? We’re only guessing that can do the things Fields clearly has demonstrated he can do.

Just look at the playoff win against Clemson. Fields took the rib shot heard ’round the world, kept standing — and getting hit — and threw for six touchdowns against the mighty Tigers. It was jaw-dropping and magnificent.

Don’t let him get away again.

• Now that the Cubs have successfully erased Zach Davies’ ability to pitch, are they ready to sneak him back into the Brewers’ rotation?

• No way D-Backs lefty Madison Bumgarner deserves credit for a no-hitter for allowing no hits in a seven-inning game. I don’t recall anybody throwing me a parade for peaking in high school.

• Just wait until a pitcher takes a perfect game into the 10th inning and inherits a runner on second base. Holy controversy.

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There is the possibility that live regular-season games could be streamed only on streaming service HBO Max, but that isn’t likely until the 2022-23 season at the earliest. TNT and HBO Max are both owned by WarnerMedia.

The NHL and Turner Sports on Tuesday formally announced a seven-year agreement that begins next season and will put three Stanley Cup Finals on the TNT cable network.

The world’s top hockey league is eager to replicate the success found on Turner by the NBA.

“From our standpoint, we looked at the strength of the Turner Sports portfolio, which is outstanding,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “They put a fun and innovative factor into all of what they do, and we’re excited to have that same treatment for our sports, and for our fans.”

Turner and corporate owner WarnerMedia surprised many with the acquisition. Longtime NHL partner NBC and Fox were seen as the favorites to get the second package after the league reached an agreement with ESPN last month.

NBC’s run of covering the league since 2005 ends after after this season’s playoffs. It is in the final season of a 10-year contract.

WarnerMedia News & Sports Chairman Jeff Zucker said Turner’s style and approach to covering the NBA and baseball will translate well to hockey. Whether it has the same vibe as its NBA coverage, which includes the successful “Inside the NBA” studio show, remains to be seen.

“Obviously I think that there’s a style to Turner Sports, but you can’t just copy ‘Inside the NBA’ on Thursday nights,” he said. “We’re going to bring that same approach to the NHL but also one that I think is innovative, fun and dynamic.”

Zucker said there haven’t been any decisions about studio talent or announcers. Charles Barkley is a big hockey fan, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he made an occasional appearance.

The deal includes up to 72 regular-season games per season, half of the first- and second-round playoff games on TNT and TBS as well as a conference final series. One of the regular-season games will be the NHL Winter Classic, which is played on New Year’s Day.

There are also live streaming and digital rights across WarnerMedia properties, including HBO Max and Bleacher Report. Zucker said there is the possibility that live games could be streamed only on HBO Max, but that isn’t likely until the 2022-23 season at the earliest.

Zucker also said it remains to be determined what days regular-season games will appear on TNT. The network has NBA games on Tuesday and Thursday as well as a successful wrestling show on Wednesday. The NHL has used Wednesday to air showcase games in the United States and Canada.

When the Stanley Cup Finals are shown on TNT in 2023, it will mark the first time since 1994 the NHL championship round will be only on cable. Bettman noted that TNT is available in 90 million homes and that content of major properties is not just confined to broadcast networks.

The agreement with Turner will give the NHL two network partners in the United States for the first time since 1998-99.

The NHL received $350 million in broadcast revenue from NBC ($250 million) and Disney Streaming Services ($100 million for digital rights) this season. The upcoming deals will average $635 million a year ($410 million from Disney and $225 million from Turner).

The league reached an agreement with Walt Disney Corp. last month that includes four Stanley Cup Finals, 25 regular-season games on ESPN and ABC, the NHL All-Star game and comprehensive streaming rights. That includes 75 regular-season games that will stream exclusively on both ESPN+ and Hulu.

It marks the first time since Turner broadcast Atlanta Flames games in the late 1970’s that the cable giant will air hockey. It also gives Turner its second championship property (it alternates the men’s Final Four with CBS.)

Turner now has the rights to three of the four major North American sports with NBA games on TNT and baseball on TBS.

Even though NBC is losing the NHL after the playoffs, the network said in a statement that it would take the same approach as prior seasons, which includes every playoff game being aired.

“Despite a lot of speculation to the contrary we remain friends, and we look forward to the future, each of us understanding why we made the decisions that we both made to reach this point.” Bettman said.

Bettman also said moving away from NBC — which holds U.S. broadcast rights for the Olympics — will not play a role in deciding whether to allow players to participate in the 2022 Beijing Games. The NHL did not allow its players to participate three years ago in South Korea, ending a run of five consecutive Winter Olympics with NHL players.

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