African American, female, age 32, Nykea Aldridge stepped into a late-summer afternoon on Chicago's South Side on August 26, 2016, pushing her newborn in a stroller as she left Dulles School of Excellence, where she had been registering children for the new year.
Around 3:30 p.m., on the 6300 block of South Calumet in Parkway Gardens, gunfire meant for someone else erupted.
The 32-year-old mother was struck in the head and arm while the baby remained unharmed; she was rushed to Stroger
Hospital, where the 32-year-old woman was pronounced dead at 4:15 p.m. Police quickly made clear that the 32-year-old victim was not the intended target.
Detectives said two men had opened fire at a third man near Aldridge and the companion walking beside her.
Within two days, the investigation focused on brothers Derren Sorrells, 22, and Darwin Sorrells Jr., 26, both identified by police as gang members who were out on parole.
Authorities alleged that the brothers fired at a man they believed to be associated with a rival crew, missing him and killing the 32-year-old mother of four.
The 22-year-old suspect later admitted in a recorded statement that he shot at a 25-year-old man, according to prosecutors.
Arrests came swiftly that weekend. Chicago police announced that the brothers had been booked and charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder; one was additionally charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass.
In court appearances that followed, prosecutors emphasized the parole status and prior records of the accused.
Community tips and focused police work in Parkway Gardens were credited for how quickly suspects were taken into custody, even as officials decried the systemic churn that had put the 22-year-old and 26-year-old back on the street.
Years later, the legal aftermath drew to a close for at least one of the accused. In January 2019, Derren Sorrells pleaded guilty to the murder of the 32-year-old victim, acknowledging that he had fired at someone he believed to be a rival gang member and instead hit the 32-year-old mother.
Under a deal with prosecutors, he received a 27-year prison sentence, while proceedings against his older brother continued in Cook County court.
The plea and sentence underscored what police had said from the beginning: the 32-year-old woman pushing a stroller was an unintended victim of a targeted attack carried out by two men who turned a neighborhood street into a crossfire.
