Chicago woman killed after anti-gun violence event

Nearly an hour after leaving a fundraiser to fight gun violence, a West Pullman woman was shot to death outside her home Friday night.

Leonore Draper, 32, was found inside her car in the 11500 block of South Laflin Street about 10:30 p.m., authorities said.

Family members on Saturday said they were in shock and confirmed Draper had just attended A Charitable Confection, a fundraiser on the Near South Side to raise money for teen anti-violence group Project Orange Tree. The group was formed by King College Prep students after the shooting death of Hadiya Pendleton last year.

Draper’s brother Adrian Murrow called his sister extremely “outgoing” and “easy to get along.”

“She wasn’t the type of person that would ever try to mess you up ever. She was always trying to put a smile on your face,” Murrow said from his home in Houston.

Murrow said his sister often came to visit him, but he never had a chance to visit her Chicago home in West Pullman. He said she had lived in the neighborhood for a short time.

Draper was on the committee that organized Friday’s anti-violence event, according to Jocelyn Delk Adams, a friend and fellow organizer of the event.

She was also an employee of the Chicago Public Schools, serving as a budget analyst, CPS spokesman Joel Hood said.

On her Facebook page Friday, Draper reminded friends and family of the charitable event. She was also active with a charity raising awareness about the impact of HIV and AIDS on women.

Murrow said his sister was especially active in raising funds for multiple sclerosis research. She even posted a blog and several videos featuring her husband, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. In the YouTube videos, Draper said she wanted to “introduce the world to a life of multiple sclerosis.”

Police said there were no witnesses to the shooting and it’s unclear whether Draper was the intended target or an innocent bystander. Draper was initially found with a gunshot wound to the arm, with her car parked on the street. Police were responding to several 911 reports of hearing shots when they found her. Draper was still alive when paramedics arrived, but died soon after at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, authorities said. She was also shot in the chest. The Chicago Sun-Times