Anthony Cassell didn’t single out any of the countless fond memories he has of his nephew, Sydney Cassell. To him, each one was remarkable.
“Any contact with Sydney was a memory because he was the life of the party,” Anthony Cassell told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Cassell, 29, had just gotten off shift at the Kids Foot Locker on 8658 S. Cottage Grove Ave., where he worked as a security guard. He was getting into his car about 7:20 p.m. when someone in a blue sedan drove up and fired shots, Chicago police said.
Cassell suffered gunshot wounds to the face and lower body and was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 8:18 p.m., Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
“We are devastated to learn of the tragically fatal shooting of one of our Chicago security guards, and our thoughts are with their family, friends, and team members,” Foot Locker Inc. said in a statement to the Sun-Times. “We are providing support to our team members in the area and working with local law enforcement as they continue to investigate this matter. We will continue to take any appropriate precautions to ensure the safety of our team, customers, and local community members.”
Cassell wasn’t a Foot Locker employee, but worked at the store through a security firm, his uncle said.
A wooden board covered one of the windows outside the store, which was closed Friday afternoon as shoppers funneled into surrounding shops and restaurants.
A motive wasn’t clear and police said the shooter was not in custody.
A GoFundMe fundraiser was created to help cover memorial expenses for Cassell.
Montrell Otey, Sydney’s brother, urged whoever shot him to “come forward and be truthful to themselves.”
“The Bible talks about: ‘It’s better to forgive,” Otey, 28, told the Sun-Times. “We’ll never forget what happened to him or what they did to him but we always can forgive them.”
“It’s gonna be a while until most of the family forgives him but it’s better to forgive than it is to forget,” he added.
Anthony Cassell recalled his last conversation with his nephew: “I told him I loved him, you know, [I] told him I’d see him when I see him. Unfortunately, that won’t be able to happen.”
He described his nephew as a “gentle giant who was always laughing and fun-loving.”
“He was a big guy. Six-foot-four, 280, 290 pounds but he was really agile on his feet,” Anthony Cassell said.
Sydney enjoyed dancing and listening to hip-hop and R&B and also spending time making music with his brothers. He also had a deep passion for cars.
“He loved to buy old cars and try to fix them up,” Anthony Cassell said. “He was just a passionate young man about whatever he did.”
Otey said one of his favorite recollections of Sydney was when he came to his high school baseball games and supported him throughout his 2015 season.
“We had a good relationship,” he said. “Sometimes we fight but that’s what brothers do. ... We talk, we laugh, we joke.”
“When a person’s down and out, he was always there to comfort them and make them smile, you know, [and] get them through the days,” he said.
