Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A Springfield alderman Tuesday raised his voice and suggested politics are in play over the Oct. 9 triple homicide just outside the corporate limits.
Mary Shanklin described herself as a family friend of two of the three people — two young adults and a nine-year-old — shot to death in a home on Hoover Avenue, in the Cabbage Patch neighborhood.
The victims are Mhynesha Day, 22; Devione Brady, 21; and Cash Russell, 9.
“We must work together to make a difference,” Shanklin said during Tuesday’s public comment period. “These kids were killed last Thursday, and nobody’s talking about it.”
Ald. Shawn Gregory had heard enough. “I’m not going to sit up here and play politics with these kids,” he said, his voice rising. “We have (spoken) on it. The change that we (are) talking about don’t involve the police. It involves us.”
Gregory said more community leaders should act out the sort of community involvement he does, saying he’s been to countless funerals and just prior to Tuesday’s council meeting came from an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) college fair.
The Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the triple homicide.
