Juan Felipe Rendon

Dec 9, 2024 | chicagoreader.com | Juan Felipe Rendon |Juan F. Rendón

This story was originally published by the Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in America. Sign up for its newsletters here. I always thought Junior and I would go to college together, that we’d be roommates after school. I always thought our kids would grow up together. Instead, when he was 19, I lost my very best childhood friend. On December 30, 2012, Junior was shot along with two other people.

Dec 9, 2024 | thetrace.org | Joy Resmovits |Corniki Bornds |Juan Felipe Rendon |Juan F. Rendón

The Trace As survivors in The Trace’s Chicago Storytelling Workshop prepared to publish their essays this year, a new partner joined the gathering. Michelle Navarro, a producer for City Cast Chicago, recorded the group’s final meeting and interviewed participants.

Dec 6, 2024 | thetrace.org | Juan Felipe Rendon |Juan F. Rendón

Skip to content Close Gun violence journalism that informs and empowers. Your gift makes The Trace’s reporting possible. Give today to sustain our work. Donate Now Investigating gun violence in America. Donate Juan Rendon Juan Rendon has been a resident of the Humboldt Park community for 32 years. He currently runs a business that brings children from school to their after-school activities.

Dec 6, 2024 | thetrace.org | Crystal Paul |Chip Brownlee |Jessica Brown |Juan Felipe Rendon |Juan F. Rendón

The Trace On an unseasonably warm night this past September, the room was quiet. The only thing the seven people sitting around the table knew about each other was that their lives had been marked by gun violence. That’s how it all started — seven survivors, gathering in Bronzeville every month to tell their stories as the streetlights glowed to life, casting yellow halos through the large conference room windows.

Dec 6, 2024 | thetrace.org | Juan Felipe Rendon |Juan F. Rendón |Joy Resmovits

The Trace I always thought Junior and I would go to college together, that we’d be roommates after school. I always thought our kids would grow up together. Instead, when he was 19, I lost my very best childhood friend. On Dec. 30, 2012, Junior was shot along with two other people. His friends were shot in the shoulder and jaw and in the back, and Junior was shot in the abdomen, but there was no trauma center nearby. Blood loss, his family said, was a major factor in his passing.