Thread: Promising Boxer Shot, Killed in Chicago Lawn

Promising boxer shot, killed in Chicago Lawn

July 30, 2007
By Duaa Eldeib Staff writer
Alejandro Calderon was the last person family and friends thought would die in a gang-related shooting.

The 19-year-old resident of the Chicago Lawn community was a national Silver Gloves boxing champion, a recent graduate of Curie Metropolitan High School and a soon-to-be godfather of his 7-month-old niece Xiomara Magdaleno.

"He kept telling his friends, 'I'm going to be a godparent,' " said Xiomara's mother, Jessica Zadala.

But everything changed early Sunday morning.

After returning about 2:15 a.m. from a family barbecue, Calderon sat on the front porch of the family's home in the 3300 block of West 60th Place. He, his brother and a friend waited for Zadala's husband so they could head to the back yard together.

"We don't like sitting in the front," Zadala, 27, said.

What happened in the next few minutes made it clear why.

An unknown number of people approached Calderon on the porch and asked him to "drop the fork," Zadala said.

The gang-related talk wasn't welcomed by Calderon.

"My brother told him that they didn't gang-bang here," she said.

The people circled in a dark, old-model vehicle, police spokeswoman JoAnn Taylor said. Then, Taylor said, someone fired a gun, striking Calderon in the head.
"He still had a pulse when the ambulance took him," Zadala said as she sobbed.

Calderon was transported to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 2:53 a.m., according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office. Police continue to investigate. No one was in custody Sunday.

When Zadala broke the news to her 7-year-old son George on Sunday morning, tears streamed down his face.

"He told me, 'So my uncle ain't going to cut my hair no more?' " Zadala said.

When Calderon put his boxing gloves down, he often picked up a razor, earning the reputation of esteemed barber by family and close friends.

His talents didn't stop there. Two months ago, he graduated from carpentry school, his sister said. His plan was to buy fixer-uppers, turn them around and sell them.

"He was just happy. Cheesy. Always making jokes. Smiling and playing with the babies," Zadala said.

And now his mother will bury her third child after his two older sisters died of cancer within the past five years.

"This is very hard for the family," friend and neighbor Maricela Flores said.

"He was one of the most respectful guys on the block," Flores added.

The family is accepting donations to help with funeral costs. For more information, contact maricelaflores82@sbcglobal.net.
Duaa Eldeib may be reached at
deldeib@dailysouthtown.com
or (70 633-5960.


http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/4891 ... S1.article

More proof of what happens when your borders are wide open .