‘Great student’ shot to death on the South Side

A 19-year-old man was shot to death Friday night on the city’s South Side.

Joseph Graves, who graduated from Simeon Career Academy, was found unresponsive inside a car in the 700 block of West 92nd Street in Washington Heights around 10:30 p.m., according to the police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He had attended Northern Illinois University but was not currently enrolled, a school spokesman said Monday.

According to police and the medical examiner, Graves had been shot in the head and was dead at the scene.

“He was a great student,” said Dr. Sheldon House, principal of Simeon. “He was a member of the bowling team. He was just a great kid.”

House said Graves has a younger brother who currently attends Simeon.

“The news hurt because I see his brother every day and those two were jokesters. It hurts to hear the violence in the city and it hurts even more when it happens to a great person who is doing his best who is home from college just for a breather,” House said.

House said he spoke with Graves’ mother shortly after her son’s death.

“She told me she would be strong and she would pray.”