Auburn Gresham Neighbors, Faith Leaders Unite After Woman Killed On 79th Street: ‘Don’t Be Silent’

St. Sabina’s Rev. Michael Pfleger announced the church is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone with information on the Wednesday afternoon shooting that left a mother dead.

Father Michael Pfleger leads the group in prayer during a prayer vigil and police roll call at 79th and May streets, where Gabryel Ayers was fatally shot with her baby in the backseat of her car, in Auburn Gresham on Feb. 6, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

AUBURN GRESHAM —  When bullets flew Wednesday afternoon on the 79th Street corridor, the St. Sabina Social Service Center Food Pantry was in full swing, said executive director Tim Allison.

Leaders at the pantry, 1120 W. 79th St., have served South Siders under the leadership of St. Sabina’s Rev. Michael Pfleger since October 2024. It stands feet away from the intersection of West 79th and May streets.

Allison was in a meeting with the pantry’s manager when they thought they heard the sound of a truck stopping, “but the sound kept going and echoing,” Allison said. He ran to the front of the pantry, looked to the left and saw people shooting. He instructed everyone to get down and closed the pantry’s metal blinds.

After hearing a car drive off, Allison and staff called 911 and went outside, where he saw a car at a standstill, he said.

“A gentleman was wounded and trying to move, and we encouraged him not to move,” Allison said. “Then we heard the baby crying.”
Tim Allison, executive director of the St. Sabina Social Service Center, explains what he saw at 79th and May streets, where Gabryel Ayers was fatally shot with her baby in the backseat of her car, in Auburn Gresham on Feb. 6, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
City officials, faith leaders and the Gresham (6th) police district gathered in Auburn Gresham Friday for a roll call and prayer vigil recognizing the two people shot, one fatally, in the 7900 block of South May Street.

The shooting happened at 1:25 p.m. Wednesday, police said. A 27-year-old man and 26-year-old Gabryel Ayers were sitting inside a car when someone shot them and they crashed the car into a van, officials said.

In the backseat of the car was Ayers’ child, the woman’s godfather told ABC7.

Ayers was hit multiple times and taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital, where she died, officials said. The man was shot in his buttocks and arm and taken to Christ Hospital in good condition, police said. The driver of the van refused medical assistance.

No one is in custody, and detectives were still investigating as of Friday.
79th and May streets, where Gabryel Ayers was fatally shot with her baby in the backseat of her car, in Auburn Gresham on Feb. 6, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Wednesday’s shooting happened in “broad daylight” on 79th Street — one of the area’s busiest stretches, community leaders previously said.

In an online video shared with CBS2, three people wearing black clothing appear to run down May Street and across the 79th Street intersection with raised guns.

After appearing to shoot toward a white car, they run, enter a red car and drive up to the white vehicle before driving away.

At Friday’s vigil, community officials called on anyone with information to report what they saw and “become part of the solution,” Pfleger said. St. Sabina is offering a $10,000 reward.

“To those that know, don’t be silent,” Pfleger said Friday. “Don’t sit back because, if you do, then you are a co-conspirator to everything that they do, and they’ve shown here they’re going to shoot anywhere and they may shoot you.”
People gather after a prayer vigil and police roll call at 79th and May streets, where Gabryel Ayers was fatally shot with her baby in the backseat of her car, in Auburn Gresham on Feb. 6, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Wednesday’s shooting — and other incidents of gun violence across the city — are a “profound, deep tragedy” that “tear at the thread of the soul of Chicago” and serve as a reminder of the work the city still has left to do, Mayor Brandon Johnson said during Friday’s vigil. Chicago recorded the fewest murders in 60 years in 2025.

“We’re going to continue to stand strong shoulder to shoulder with the families and the victims who have borne the brunt of the disinvestment that has created a great deal of pain in our communities,” Johnson said. “But we also want to thank the community for standing strong, remaining brave and courageous during these very difficult times.”

Johnson vowed to bring justice to families across the city “struck by gun violence” and to hold people accountable.

“But that doesn’t just mean locking them up,” Johnson said. “It means making sure that we don’t create other individuals that believe the only way in which they can survive in this city is through violence and crime. It’s not enough to eliminate violence.”
Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a prayer vigil and police roll call at 79th and May streets, where Gabryel Ayers was fatally shot with her baby in the backseat of her car, in Auburn Gresham on Feb. 6, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
The St. Sabina pantry closed Wednesday for the safety of workers and volunteers, Allison said.

When staff returned Thursday, Allison lit a candle, held a moment of silence for the victims and led breathing exercises with his staff before reopening the pantry to the public, he said. Staff were also given the space to reflect on their personal experiences with gun violence.

“Some of it brought back feelings for people who have lost their family to gun violence,” Allison said. “They had to step away because it triggered them and they got emotional.”

Allison hopes the people who fired Wednesday’s shots are “brought to justice,” he said. The pantry and its staff will continue to be a resource to anyone in need.

“A lot of times in communities, it’s just the norm that people see something tragic happen and then they go about regular life and deal with it later in some way, form or fashion,” Allison said. “I just wanted to let the team know, that everything that we could do, we did.”