JOLIET, Ill. (CBS) — A family in a southwest Chicago suburb mourned the loss of a man Tuesday night who was shot on his way home from work.
Authorities say Lenier Clayton was shot by another driver after being in an accident on Interstate 80 the night before.
Clayton was only 30 years old and still had so much to live and give, his mother said.
His family said Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday. Yet his family will experience enormous emptiness during the holidays this week, just as they will for years to come.
A video from the Clayton family shows Lenier Clayton dancing with a big smile – and that’s how his mother, Lenora Clayton, wants to remember her only son.
“He was the life of the party,” Mrs. Clayton said. “He was a joker, a very good young man.”
Monday night, just before 11 p.m., Clayton’s family woke up to a knock on the front door.
“[We] turned on the porch light, peeked through the curtain and knew something was wrong,” Ms. Clayton said.
Will County sheriff’s officials stood at the door with Lenier Clayton’s ID in hand.
“She asks them, ‘Where is my son? Where is my baby? Is he okay? Is he alive? Is he safe?'” said Lenier Clayton’s sister, Mia Clayton. “They didn’t want to say much more until they said, ‘Can we come inside? We don’t want to do this on the porch.'”
Officers broke the news that Lenier had been shot and killed earlier in the evening while on I-80 near the I-355 interchange in New Lenox.
“I was in shock. She’s crying. I’m trying to hold her, and I’m thinking, this can’t be happening,” Mia Clayton said. “My brother called me at 5:15.”
Mia missed her brother’s call just minutes before the incident.
“I don’t know if he called me when this happened,” Mia Clayton said.
Investigators said Lenier Clayton and another driver got into an argument on the highway. When the two got out to inspect the damage, the driver pulled out a gun and fired, killing Lenier.
‘It was multiple. It wasn’t just one time. So that’s anger. That’s hate. Why? You don’t even know him,” said Mrs. Clayton, “and even if you did, you didn’t need to.”
Police have arrested the suspected shooter. But the emptiness of the Clayton family leaves so many questions surrounding what appears to be just a car accident.
‘It wasn’t worth it. You took this boy from us just before the holidays. Like my mother said, you didn’t know him. You didn’t know him,’ said Mia Clayton, ‘and he doesn’t know how He affected all of us very badly.”
As the family grieves, they hope the person is charged accordingly.
‘I sure as hell hope he gets locked up forever. Forever,” Mia Clayton said. “He deserves to be in prison. That’s how I look at it.’
As of late Tuesday, the person was in custody awaiting charges. The motive for the shooting remained unclear.
Mrs. Clayton said she refuses to harbor hatred in her heart for the person accused of fatally shooting her son. But she will be present in court at every hearing to ensure justice is served.
