The family of Hadiya Pendleton is mourning today.

The 15-year-old King College Prep student was gunned down yesterday in a park near the school.

Just a week ago, Pendelton had traveled to Washington DC and performed at President Obama’s inauguration with her school’s drill team.

 

 

Hadiya Pendleton, 15, and another student at King, a selective-enrollment school at 4445 S. Drexel Blvd., had gotten out of school early, at 1 p.m. Tuesday, after final exams, authorities and other students said.

She and at least one other student — identified by other students as Lawrence Sellers, 17 — were with a group of about a dozen teens at Vivian Gordon Harsh Park in the 4500 block of South Oakenwald Avenue at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

 

Read more at DNAInfo.

 

According to the NY Daily News, Pendleton was shot in the back, and collapsed about a block away. She was an honors student, a volleyball player, and a majorette at King College Prep.

Her classmates and community are devastated.

An earlier BYP post asked if it was time for President Obama to visit Chicago, his hometown, to address the violence in the city.

 

UPDATE:

The Black Youth Project has launched a petition, asking that President Obama come to Chicago and deliver a major speech that addresses gun violence in Black and Latino communities.

This speech must layout specific policies on how the current administration and the country will work to save the lives and improve the futures of Black and Latino youth.

We know that President Obama cannot solve the issue of gun violence alone. However, he can call the nation to consciousness about the need for a response to this crisis.

Click here Learn more and SIGN THE PETITION!

 

When will the deaths of black children warrant the attention the deaths of white children receive?

What would it take for President Obama to address the killing of black children very close to his Chicago home?

Sound off below!!!!