LaNiyah Murphy: 20-Year-Old Activist Fatally Shot In Head While Sitting In Car In Chicago
Anti-violence activist LaNiyah Murphy, 20, was shot in the head while sitting in a car on Chicago’s South Side on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.
LaNiyah Murphy was a Governors State University student who was working on bettering her community.
Murphy, 20, was a well thought-of young person who was making a name for herself as a local activist against gun violence.
She was sitting in her car on Chicago’s South Side on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 when someone shot her in the head.
“She’s a victim of this tragedy, but at the same time, she’s a champion among her peers,” Lamar Johnson, B.R.A.V.E. violence prevention coordinator, told CBS News.
She graduated high school as a Salutatorian in 2020 and was determined to bring awareness to gun violence plaguing the community.
Her slaying has understandably broken the hearts of the activist community in Chicago as well as her friends and family.
“And she means so much to so many people,” Johnson said. “It’s not just St. Sabina. It’s not just BRAVE. It’s her school. It’s her parents. It’s her siblings.”
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, this wasn’t LaNiyah’s first time shedding blood on the streets.
In 2018, she was reportedly shot in the head but made a full recovery.
She used that horrific ordeal to shed light on gun violence, joining up with St. Sabina’s BRAVE youth leaders program, where she mentored young people.
Days after her murder, her loved ones gathered for a vigil in Chicago to remember Murphy’s short life.
“She dedicated her life and time to not being afraid to tell others of her journey and the importance of ending gun violence,” said Murphy’s aunt, Danita Huff, according to the Sun-Times. “She inspired many other girls to do the same.”
“This hurts for a lot of people,” Johnson told the Sun-Times. “She was very vocal, she was the life of the room, she had a wonderful personality.”