Seventeen-year-old female Naome Zuber left for a friend’s birthday party just after midnight on October 1, 2016, riding in the back seat with three friends through Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood. As their car headed north near the 4500 block of South Wood Street around 12:30 a.m., shots rang out from the sidewalk. A bullet pierced the vehicle and struck Zuber in the head.
Her friends sped away in panic and flagged down help; she was rushed to Holy Cross Hospital, where she was pronounced dead minutes later.
In the days that followed, loved ones described a Curie High School senior who was on the cusp of graduation and talked about studying criminal justice in college. Teachers and family remembered her as a steady presence—an “ambassador” for peers who juggled school activities and a part-time job—while the neighborhood held a candlelight vigil to mourn a life cut short.
Police said the gunfire came from outside the car and that Zuber was not the intended target. No one else in the vehicle was physically injured. In the immediate aftermath, detectives reported no one in custody, and news outlets noted that authorities had not identified a suspect. Years later, her family continued public appeals, emphasizing that the case remained unsolved and pleading for information that could identify those responsible.
Despite rewards and renewed attention on anniversaries, there have been no announced arrests in Zuber’s killing. Coverage has consistently characterized the investigation as open but inactive in terms of public developments, with officials not naming any suspects and loved ones still seeking justice.
