Daycare worker killed by stray bullet in Altgeld Gardens

A daycare worker was killed in a shooting Wednesday as she was arriving at her home in Altgeld Gardens Homes on the Far South Side.

Kimberly Underwood, 53, was pulling into a lot near her home in the 1000 block of East 133rd Street about 10:30 p.m. when shots rang out, Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Underwood was struck in the face and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

She moved into the apartment about two years ago after she lost her job as a manager of a restaurant and could no longer afford to keep her house in south suburban Hazel Crest, according to her sister, Sandra Underwood.

After the move, gun violence became a regular part of her life.

“She said they was always shooting all the time, you know how it is in the projects,” Sandra Underwood said.

“That was a tough decision, period. But you gotta live somewhere,” she said. “They killed her for nothing. It was a mistake.”

Kimberly Underwood worked at a daycare in Indiana.

“She was a beautiful, fun, happy person,” Sandra Underwood said.

Kimberly Underwood had two daughters and 11 grandkids. She also had a special needs son, 34, who she lived with and cared for, Sandra Underwood said.

Kimberly and Sandra, along with a third sister, grew up in Roseland.

Sandra and Kimberly enjoyed playing bingo at a bingo hall in Indiana, Sandra Underwood said.

“She’ll be truly missed, its unbelievable, its hitting too many families,” her cousin, Jesse Underwood said. “You can’t even pull into your own parking lot.”

No arrests have been reported. Area South detectives are investigating.

Read more on crime, and track the city’s homicides.