By Grant Schulte, Claire Savage and Harm Venhuizen -
The Associated Press
Aiden McCarthy's photo was shared all over Chicagoland social media in the hours following the shooting at the 4th of July parade in Highland Park, accompanied by requests to help identify the 2-year-old boy who had been located. on the spot bloodied and alone, so as to reunite him with his family.
On Tuesday, friends and authorities confirmed that the boy's parents: Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, were among the seven people killed.
“At 2 years old, Aiden is left in an inconceivable situation: growing up without his parents,” Irina Colon wrote in an account on the GoFundMe crowdfunding platform she created for the family and for Aiden, who was reunited with her grandparents on Monday the night.
[“We didn't know where the bullets were coming from”: the terror experienced by survivors of the shooting in Highland Park]
Friends of the McCarthys said Irina's parents would take care of the boy from now on.
Four other people who died were identified Tuesday as Katherine Goldstein, 64;
Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63;
Stephen Strauss, 88;
and Nicolás Toledo Zaragoza, 78. All the victims were from Highland Park, except Toledo, who was visiting his family in the city from Morelos, Mexico.
Authorities have not yet identified the seventh victim.
A son of the Mexican killed in Highland Park wants the murderer to ask God for forgiveness: "I don't feel courage"
July 5, 202201:46
Profiles of some of those killed began to surface Tuesday as investigators continued to search for evidence in the shooting that killed at least seven people and wounded 30.
Angela Vella, Irina McCarthy's childhood friend, described McCarthy as fun, personable and "a bit tomboyish" and liked to dress well.
[“My body betrayed me”: the chilling testimony of a woman who survived the shooting outside Chicago]
"She definitely had her own style, which I've always admired," Vella said in a brief interview.
Straus, a financial adviser from Chicago, was one of the first spectators to arrive at the parade and attends every year, his grandchildren said.
Brooke and Matt Strauss, who were married Sunday, pause after leaving their bouquets from the ceremony in downtown Highland Park, Ill., near the scene of Monday, July 5, 2022, mass shooting in Highland Park. , Illinois. Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Brothers Maxwell and Tobias Straus described their grandfather as a friendly, active man who liked to walk, bike, and attend community events.
"The way he was living life, you'd think he was still middle-aged," Maxwell Straus said in an interview.
The two brothers remembered Sunday night dinners with their grandparents as one of their favorite traditions.
They said that they ate with him the night before his murder.
[Kamala Harris visits Highland Park and demands more gun control]
"The gun culture in America is killing grandparents," said Maxwell Straus.
"It's terrible".
Sundheim, for her part, was a "highly esteemed" member of the staff at North Shore Congregation Israel, where she had worked for decades, the Reform synagogue said on its website.
Sundheim taught in the synagogue's preschool and coordinated events such as bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah ceremonies.
"Jacki's work, kindness and warmth touched us all," synagogue officials wrote in a message on their website.
"There are not enough words to express our deep sorrow at Jacki's death and our sympathy for her family and loved ones."
[The one in Highland Park was not the only one: there were at least 16 mass shootings in the US over the long weekend.]
Toledo was killed in what his 23-year-old granddaughter, Xochil Toledo, said was going to be a "fun family day" that "turned into a horrible nightmare for all of us."
Through a GoFundMe page intended to raise money for Toledo's funeral expenses, Xochil Toledo said her grandfather was a "caring, creative, adventurous and fun man."
“As a family we are devastated,” he said.
Toledo had come to Illinois to visit his family about two months ago, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
His relatives wanted him to stay permanently due to injuries he sustained after being hit by a car a couple of years ago during a previous visit to Highland Park.
The newspaper reported Monday that he was hit by three bullets and died at the scene.
He wasn't sure he wanted to attend the parade due to the large number of people and his limited mobility, which requires him to use a walker, but Xochil Toledo said the family didn't want to leave him alone.
