The John Marshall Metropolitan High School basketball court, where Dylana Rainey, affectionately known as ‘Dede,’ once wowed crowds, was packed with alumni men and women ball players competing in a benefit game.
Margo, Rainey’s mother, organized the event.
“I’m just overjoyed. “I’m overwhelmed that so many people came out to participate, to help us get justice,” she said.
Rainey was pulling into the driveway of her mother’s Maywood home in the 700 block of S. 6th Ave. on July 24 when she was shot. She was pronounced dead at Loyola University Medical Center later that day.
The 22-year-old was killed while driving a 2003 black Buick Regal with gray trim and tinted windows and windshield, according to police.
According to Dede’s family, the car was discovered abandoned and burned. The game on Friday is intended to raise funds to find the murderer.
“There is no fixed amount. “We’re just hoping that whatever we can raise can help us find some sort of justice and peace,” Rainey’s brother, Devonte, said.
He told My Life in the Chi that being back on Marshall’s court without his sister was strange, but that he could feel her spirit.
“It’s that feeling of knowing something is missing but knowing that person is still here with us,” he explained.
Despite the difficult circumstances, the family expressed gratitude to the Marshall family for coming together to show their love.
“Marshall really showed her how important basketball was to her, so doing this here with the people we have here, her basketball family, her Commando family, my mom’s Commando family, it felt like the right fit and the right time,” he said.
Rainey’s mother also established a GoFundMe page in her honor to establish a scholarship fund for men and women affected by gun violence and to contribute to the prize money raised at Friday’s charity basketball game.
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