Briona White

Briona O. White was a bright and beloved 22-year-old Black woman with a promising future she was actively building. Known for her big smile and caring personality, she was a senior at Kansas State University, where she was studying to become an orthodontist. Briona was home in her native Chicago for the summer, living in the Roseland neighborhood, and was excited to return to school in just a week. Her mother, Monica White, recalled that Briona was eager to leave the city and get away from the street violence that had become all too common. Her parents, Monica and Kenneth White, remembered her as someone who was loved by everyone she met. "She touched so many people in so many ways," her mother said. "And she's truly going to be missed."

On the evening of Thursday, August 6, 2015, Briona was walking with her 20-year-old boyfriend, William L. Drake, in her Roseland neighborhood. Around 7 p.m., as they neared the mouth of an alley in the 500 block of West 109th Street, near Parnell Avenue, an unknown assailant opened fire on them. More than a dozen shots were fired at the couple. The attack happened just two blocks from where a peace rally was being held. When Chicago Police officers responded to a call of a person shot, they found both victims bleeding on the ground.

Drake had been shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Briona had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition. Despite medical efforts, she was pronounced dead at 7:43 p.m. She was one of 12 people shot, three of them fatally, in Chicago between Thursday and Friday morning.

The investigation into the double homicide was handled by the Chicago Police Department's Area South Detectives. Police noted that Drake was a former gang member who had recently been released from jail after an armed robbery conviction, though his family disputed the characterization. In the days following the shooting, Briona’s grieving parents held a vigil with friends and family, pleading for justice and for an end to the gun violence. "Today it's us, tomorrow it may be you. Put down the guns," Monica White said. "For anyone that knows anything, please don't be the coward that they were. Turn yourself in." Community activist Andrew Holmes echoed the family's plea for the shooter to come forward.

A week after the murders, on August 14, 2015, police released a composite sketch of a man wanted for questioning. This individual was reportedly seen running west on 109th Street with another person immediately after the shots were fired. The two then allegedly got into a small, yellow compact car that was parked on South Parnell Avenue and sped away, heading south. Despite this lead, no arrests have been announced in the years since the shooting.

Briona's death was a profound loss to her family and the community at Kansas State University, where a memorial service was held for her on August 25, 2015. Her parents remembered a daughter who had done everything right and was on the cusp of realizing her dreams. "Everyone that she encountered just loved Briona," her father, Kenneth, said. The senselessness of her death was a stark reminder of the persistent gun violence plaguing Chicago. Her boyfriend's mother called the shooting a "senseless, cowardly murder."

As of the latest available reports from August 2015, the case remains unsolved. The Chicago Police Department has not publicly identified any suspects or made any arrests in connection with the murders of Briona White and William Drake. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Chicago Police Department’s Area South Detective Division at 312-747-8273.