'A Lot Of Heartache': Mom Hopes Tip Line Will Solve Hillcrest Freshman's Slaying

CHICAGO, IL — It's been more than six months since 14-year-old Marshawn Mitchell was in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Hillcrest High School freshman Mitchell was leaving a football game at the school on Sept. 15, 2023, when shots rang out. Mitchell appears to have been caught in the crossfire between two parties, suffering a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. Authorities believe Mitchell was not the intended target.

"My son was a good kid," his mother Amanda Lenoir told Patch previously. "My son was not in any gangs or anything. He was just an innocent bystander."

Now, months later with no arrests made, the FBI has stepped in, creating a digital tip line intended to give anyone with information on the shooting a place to share tips, hopefully leading authorities to his killer.

FBI Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Division Robert 'Wes' Wheeler Jr. announced the tip line on Tuesday. The FBI joins Country Club Hills Police Department in its efforts. An $18,000 reward is also offered for information leading to an arrest.

The tip line is designed for anyone who might have witnessed the shooting, or been in the vicinity at the time it happened, to submit any digital media related to the incident. Investigators are asking anyone with digital files related to the shooting to upload them online. Anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for Mitchell’s death is strongly encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov.

"It means everything to me," Lenoir said. "I’m so grateful for the FBI to step in and help me get justice for Marshawn."

A Hazel Crest resident, Mitchell had been attending Hillcrest High School's homecoming football game against Oak Forest High School. Mitchell had just transferred to Hillcrest High School in County Club Hills, from Brother Rice High School in Chicago, where Lenoir said he was having a difficult time and experiencing racism. He had graduated from Prairie-Hills Junior High in nearby Markham, Lenoir said, and had been asking that she allow him to make the move to Hillcrest, where the majority of his former classmates attend.

"I’m hoping this will make kids come forward," Lenoir said, of the digital tip line. "I'm hoping someone can come forward with information to help get justice for Marshawn."

Mitchell was Lenoir's only child. A GoFundMe started to support the family has raised $6,200.

"It’s been very hard, devastating, just trying to keep going without Marshawn," Lenoir said. "It’s a lot of heartache, pain, trying to find the will to keep going without him.

"I’m just hoping to get justice for Marshawn. I’m hoping the students, staff members, who have videos, footage, will upload it to the FBI Digital site.

"I’m just looking for closure, trying to just justice for my son. He was such a bright light, he deserves closure, he deserves justice."