Chicago shooting: Hood Heroes' Taniya Smith killed during block club party in Frances Cabrini rowhouses near Cambridge and Delaware

CHICAGO (WLS) — Taniya Smith, 20, was a youth mentor at Hood Heroes, a group that helps teens find summer jobs.

She was shot and killed over the weekend during a block club party on the Near North Side.

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Her mother, Cherie Stanfield, dropped her off at that meeting, not knowing it would be the last time she would see her daughter alive. She says Taniya was trying to change lives.

“It feels like my heart is breaking in my chest, like it hurts,” Cherie said.

An end-of-summer party marked the end of Taniya’s life.

“What am I going to do without you?” Cherie said. “Being with someone for 20 years, I kind of grew up with her.”

The 20-year-old was shot early Sunday morning during a large gathering in the Frances Cabrini townhouses.

“These are all kids she's grown up with since she was in kindergarten. It's just crazy that this happened in the place she thought she would be safest,” Cherie said.

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Cellphone video shows officers attempting to disperse the crowd at the scene near Cambridge and Delaware after an unknown assailant shot Smith in the chest, police said.

“The ambulance is trying to save someone’s life! On the sidewalk!” an officer can be heard saying in the video.

Paramedics had to carry the victim several blocks to get him into an ambulance.

Taniya later died in hospital.

“My niece did not deserve this and you are a wonderful mother,” said Xiomara Stanfield, the victim's aunt.

In fact, Sherie's role as a mother was reflected in her daughter's impact on young people.

Taniya grew up in the afterschool program at By the Hand Club for Kids and eventually became a youth mentor at Hood Heroes.

This influence has now been torn away.

“And I hope no one has to feel it,” Cherie said. “You'll never feel it until you are it. You'll never feel it, and I hope no one has to feel it.”

The cell phone video also shows a man being taken into police custody. Police have not yet commented on whether any charges have been filed in connection with the shooting.

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