Raven Lemons: 25-Year-Old Chicago Woman Fatally Shot Celebrating Birthday

Raven "Rave" Lemons was shot and killed early Sunday, June 18, 2017 celebrating her birthday in downtown Chicago. A car pulled up to Lemons and a group of friends and opened fire. Police have no suspects.

Raven “Rave’’ Lemons had her head on straight and was focused on being a working mom. The former Kentucky State Univerisity student had moved back home to be around family, fitting snugly back into the Chicago lifestyle.

She was around people she loved that Saturday evening in Chicago. She attended a barbecue her father had thrown, then ventured downtown.

The mother of a 6-year-old son was near the lake when a white car sped by, firing shots into the nigh air. Someone in Lemons' group returned fire, according to local news reports based on witnesses.

Lemons was shot in the chest and tried to run like everybody else, but immediately fell to the pavement on East Ohio Street.

“I called her name and walked over to her," her friend, Ericka Matthews, told the  Chicago Tribune. "I said, ‘Wake up, wake up, get up now. It’s over, they’re done."

Lemons was rushed just blocks away to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she died. The shooting has shocked Lemons' friends, especially in an area not known for gun violence.

“I heard shots. I didn’t think it was real," Matthews was quoted as saying. "I didn’t think I could be involved, or that it would happen in the street downtown."

Authorities believe that the shooting was gang-related, but none of Lemons' friends have gang affiliation, they said. 

After the fatal shooting, an alderman said he is going to propose that Ohio Street be cordoned off to pedestrians after midnight, reopening at 6 a.m. He said less traffic will make the area safer.

Police have made no arrests in Lemons murder. If you know anything, please contact Chicago police.

James Callison, 34, an Army veteran from Minneapolis, was a witness to the aftermath of the shooting. Leaving a concert downtown, he said he happened upon a car dumping shots at a group of people.

“I started to come around the building and I heard a bunch of gunshots," Callison, who served in Iraq, told the Tribune. “I heard the girl screaming. I walked toward the gunshots and saw this car tear-ass around the corner. He was speeding toward the lake.

"One of the guys in the back seat locked eyes with me, from the driver’s side. We looked right at each other and I tucked myself further behind the pillar,’’ Callison told the Tribune.

Lemons worked as a bartender and lived on the West Side, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Callison stuck around on the scene to talk to detectives, but he stayed for another reason too, he told the Trib.

“Gunshots don’t scare me, which is kinda messed up, but you kinda get used to it," he said. "But I felt terrible for the girl and her friend. I wanted to do anything I could to help. If something like this happened to my family member, I would want someone to stay.’’