Congressman Danny Davis's grandson fatally shot over basketball shoes

Rep. Davis of Illinois was elected to his 11th term earlier this month. His 15-year-old grandson was home with family members when a dispute with another 15-year-old turned fatal.

A dispute over shoes led to the fatal shooting of the grandson of US Rep. Danny Davis (D) of Illinois, said Chicago police Saturday.

Two teens went to the home of 15-year-old Jovan Wilson in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago on Friday night, where one shot him after an argument, police said.

"This stems from a dispute over shoes, basketball shoes," said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. "Young people are using guns to settle petty disputes over clothes," Guglielmi said.

Mr. Guglielmi said Jovan knew his attackers and they may have been friends at some point.

Chicago has seen a dramatic rise in the number of shootings and homicides, with August being the deadliest month in the city in two decades. There have been 673 homicides so far this year, including the fatal shootings of the cousin of Chicago Bull Dwyane Wade, a Chicago police officer's son and the son of a famed percussionist.

Jovan's mother was not at home, but his uncle and three siblings were, said Representative Davis in an emotional statement.

"I grieve for my family. I grieve for the young man who pulled the trigger," Davis said. "I grieve for his family, his parents, his friends."

Police have not arrested anyone or named any suspects, but Guglielmi said investigators have good leads.

Davis, who was re-elected this month to his 11th term in the 7th Congressional District and is a former Chicago alderman, was in Chicago on Friday and spoke with reporters after talking to police. He wondered how the shooter obtained the gun and said he'd continue to try to combat gun violence.

Davis described his grandson to the newspaper as a "typical 15-year-old" who liked music and basketball, someone who "knew all about ... the stats of different players."

With Jovan's father at his side, Davis said, "I have dealt with this for many years. I've spoken at many funerals of young people – 14-, 15-, 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds," he said. "I guess I always knew that the possibility existed that it could happen close to me."