‘We need justice for my brother’: March honors memory of Willowbrook shooting victim

The previous weekend, a peaceful gathering in a strip mall parking lot near Willowbrook was shattered by the sound of gunfire as a Juneteenth celebration turned into a deadly mass shooting.

Very different sounds were heard Sunday. Steps from where the shooting occurred, the air was filled with prayers, sobs and calls for justice for slain Willowbrook resident Reginald Meadows.

Friends and family, many wearing T-shirts with “Walk With Reggie” on one side and “Walk for Justice Walk for Peace” on the other, marched from the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex to the edge of the strip center at Route 83 and Honeysuckle Rose Lane, where at least 23 people were shot June 17.

Reginald’s brother, Darren Meadows, and father, Loranza Meadows, joined the 60 to 70 marchers.

“I need justice for my brother. We need justice for my brother,” Darren Meadows said. “My brother was done wrong in every aspect. He was an innocent man enjoying his time with his family, his little nieces and nephews. I just pray this happens to nobody in this circle right now ever again.”

DuPage County sheriff’s police have said an unknown number of suspects fired shots from multiple weapons into the crowd during the gathering. No one has been charged.

Darren Meadows said he hopes the march calls attention to the violence that claimed his brother’s life.

“We’ve got to do better as a culture as far as this violence,” he said.

Ryan Burns, who babysat Reggie, said justice for the slain father would mean “no more gun violence.”

Darren Meadows said his brother was focused on trying to be a positive influence on young people, particularly as a coach on his son’s baseball team.

“His passion was baseball,” he said. “He was an outstanding individual, especially for his kids.”

Reggie’s 11-year-old son, Reginald, remembered how his dad took him to the batting cages and how the two went fishing.

Heather McMurrin, a friend of Reggie’s late mother, said, “He was a happy person, positive all the time. Family was his priority.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20230625/we-need-justice-for-my-brother-march-honors-memory-of-willowbrook-shooting-victim