Violence Interrupters founder Tio Hardiman speaks on April 24, 2023, near where a 1-year-old Berwyn boy was found slain in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood. (Eileen T. Meslar / Chicago Tribune)
Community advocates and residents gathered in the North Lawndale neighborhood Monday to raise awareness about the death of a 1-year-old boy found dead on the West Side Thursday.
Zaiden A. Collins, of Berwyn, suffered blunt force trauma to the abdomen inside a residence in the North Lawndale neighborhood’s 1300 block of South Kedzie Avenue, police said. The death was ruled a homicide, but as of Monday afternoon, the investigation was ongoing. There are no updates beyond the original statement that Zaiden was put down for a nap and then found unresponsive.
Violence Interrupters founder Tio Hardiman, longtime anti-violence advocate, called for more awareness from the media and a hastened police investigation at a news conference, where he gazed upon the small audience of reporters with conviction.