In the hours since a mass shooting at a River North restaurant, the family of Devonte Williamson has come across multiple videos on social media of the gunfire that killed him.
“You see people running, and they are constantly shooting,” said Andrea Williamson, Devonte Williamson’s mother. “To do that to people — the majority of them were women — to take people’s loved ones away, they need to be locked up.”
Devonte Williamson, 23, was one of four people killed in the drive-by shooting that happened around 11 p.m. Wednesday as a crowd gathered outside the Artis Restaurant and Lounge, 311 W. Chicago Ave., where an album-release party was taking place for Devonte’s girlfriend, Melanie Doyle, a drill rapper known as Mello Buckzz. Another 14 people were wounded in the shooting.
Another victim in the shooting, Taylor Walker, 26, also knew Doyle, her family said. The other victims were identified as Aviance King, 27, and Leon Henry, 25, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
On Thursday, friends and relatives of the victims were in disbelief over the deadly shooting and gathered in different parts of Chicago to support each other.
Dozens of Walker’s friends and family gathered at Chicago Vocational Career Academy — Walker’s Alma mater — to release pink and white balloons in honor of her less than 24 hours after the shooting. They hugged each other and shared stories of Walker who many described as a “sweet girl.”
Dozens of family and friends release balloons in the air during a vigil for Taylor Walker in a field at Chicago Vocational High School in the Avalon Park neighborhood, Thursday, July 3, 2025. Walker was one of four victims who was killed in a mass shooting Wednesday night outside Artis Restaurant and Lounge in River North.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Time
Walker’s mother, Sharonda Booth, said losing her daughter has left a hole in heart.
“I know I can’t question God,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I know he must have a better plan for her.”
Walker was a hairdresser and often styled her family and friends. She was friends with Buckzz and often did her hair, said Stacey Brison, Walker’s aunt.
“She went to support her friend,” Brison said. “These young ladies are just trying to do something with their lives but they can’t go anywhere without being targeted. It has to stop.”
Walker was one of eight siblings, and lost a brother to gun violence. Walker’s oldest sister, Celeste Gary, said her younger sister lit up any room she walked into.
“She was just a loving person,” said Gary, 48. “She took care of her siblings and her mother. She loved her family.”
Gary said it was difficult knowing she lost her sister to gun violence and wanted those responsible to be caught.
“You don’t feel it until it hits home,” she said.
A pair of women hold one another during a balloon release and vigil for Taylor Walker in a field at Chicago Vocational High School in the Avalon Park neighborhood, Thursday, July 3, 2025. Walker was one of four victims who was killed in a mass shooting Wednesday night outside Artis Restaurant and Lounge in River North.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Time
Like Walker, Devonte Williamson graduated from Chicago Vocational Career Academy, his mother said. He grew up in Hegewisch and was searching for work as a truck driver. He was the second-oldest of seven children and had a 2-year-old daughter, Nevaeh.
“He was very outgoing, very popular and very protective,” Andrea Williamson said. “He really cared about the people he knows.”
She said her son had just started dating Doyle a few weeks ago, though she thinks they had known each other for longer. He was at the River North restaurant to support Doyle.
“I just met her for the first time a few days ago, so I don’t know much about her,” Andrea Williamson said.
Devonte’s brother, Darell Williamson, 24, late Wednesday received a call from a friend informing him that Devonte had been shot in the chest. He and others rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where they initially believed Devonte was taken, but later tracked his phone to Stroger Hospital.
“We waited a long time, but then I knew by my mother’s reaction that it was not good,” Darell Williamson said, describing the scene at Stroger, where doctors told his mother that his brother had died.
The family has heard rumors the shooting was gang-related, but Andrea Williamson said her son was not affiliated with a gang.
She called for police to arrest the shooters.
“To go shoot up [18] people, to me there is no reason to do something like that,” Andrea Williamson said.
As the family awaits answers from police, she said they will start planning a birthday party for Devonte’s daughter, who will turn 3 years old later this month.
