'Sweet, loving' 19-year-old woman killed in Austin mass shooting was 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'

For 19-year-old Arianna Murphy, family was everything, and she spent most of her free time at home with her mom and sisters.

She was sweet, loving and sometimes shy, according to her mother, Shatika Morgan.

But Saturday night a friend invited Murphy out, and she found herself at a party when someone opened fire. She was killed after she was shot in her head.

“My baby was only 19,” Morgan told the Sun-Times. “She never bothered anybody. She was friendly. She had a beautiful spirit.

“That was my best friend. I was 19 when I had her, so we grew together. That was my baby.”

Murphy and her friends were supposed to go bowling, but someone in the group decided to detour and stop by a party in the Austin neighborhood, where she also lived. Murphy did not know anyone there.

“Arianna just wanted to go outside this weekend,” Morgan said. “Arianna [usually] stays in the house. If she does anything with friends, she does game nights in the house. … She wasn’t a party person.”

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Just after 1 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a call of shots fired in the 5300 block of West Madison Street, Chicago police said.

According to the police report, a fight erupted at a birthday party inside Poppy’s Chat Room, 5333 W. Madison St., and someone opened fire. ShotSpotter captured at least 40 rounds, according to the report.

Murphy had only been at the party a couple of minutes before the shooting began, her mother said.

Whenever Murphy went out she would constantly check in with her mother and her younger sister, who also kept tabs on her location. When Murphy stopped responding Saturday night, her sister called a friend, who answered the phone hysterically.

Murphy’s uncle ran straight to the scene, while Morgan made her way back from a gathering in the south suburbs.

When Murphy’s uncle arrived, police told him that five victims had been transported. He began calling every hospital in the area, even driving to Stroger, but could not find Murphy.

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Finally, an officer informed the family there was one victim still at the scene, who had been pronounced dead.

“So we ran back to the scene,” Morgan said fighting through tears. “And it took them two hours before they would even tell me if it was my child. And when they did, it was my baby, and she had been dead on arrival that whole time. She was still there.

“My baby didn’t leave that place until they finished their investigation. So my baby was just there on that floor for hours, by herself just laying there.”

Murphy had been found inside the business with a single gunshot wound. Four other females — ages 16 to 20 — were also wounded in the attack. Morgan said her daughter did not know the other victims.

Morgan said she cannot fathom why someone would open fire on a group of young women.

Murphy graduated from Prosser Career Academy last year and planned to begin college courses in the fall. Her dream job was to work as a high school counselor, according to her mother.

She also loved fashion and was always dressed up with her hair done. She was the family’s biggest style critic, her mom joked.

“I’ll never get that text again — anytime she wanted something — ‘Mom!’” Morgan said. “She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Shawn Childs, a community activist with the House of Hope Foundation, went to the scene early Sunday to help clean.

“There were puddles of blood in the middle of the street,” Childs told the Sun-Times. “There were girls’ shoes, keys, phone cases too,’’ Childs said.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Childs said his 18-year-old daughter was friends and a former classmate of Murphy at Prosser and had a hard time at school Tuesday.

“They [young women] are our future. … This was the bloodiest weekend of 2024, and it’s not even summer yet.”

Later Sunday afternoon 16-year-old Johnveir Winn-Mckeever was killed, and three other people were wounded in another mass shooting in Austin.

The group was gathered in the 400 block of North Lavergne Avenue about 2:50 p.m. when two people got out of a car and shot at them, Chicago police said.

Three victims — a 21-year-old and two 25-year-olds — took themselves to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park and were in good condition, police said.

No one has been arrested for either shooting.