A grieving family remembers a promising life cut short at Bradley University
Apr 20, 2018He came across her backpack and inside found a folder of neatly organized notes the biomedical science major kept, though he couldn’t make sense of them.“I wish there was a way I could just finish what she was studying,” Murry said. “I know it’s kind of hard but I wish one of my other kids could follow what she was doing, but it’s up to them.”His daughter, Nasjay Murry, dreamed of becoming the family’s first doctor. But instead, months after the Chicago native had started her freshman year, her family is finalizing the details of her funeral this weekend in Chicago.Nasjay Murry was at an off-campus party early April 8 when gunshots rang out and she was shot to death, Peoria police said. Another person at the party, Anthony Polnitz, 22, of Peoria, was also fatally shot, Peoria police said. A third person was wounded but survived the shooting.That morning, Tarrano Murry’s 11-year-old daughter called to tell him about the shooting.“That’s when everything just went sour,” he said. “I just couldn’t believe it … I just couldn’t.”Jermontay Brock, 16, of Peoria, is charged with first-degree murder in Polnitz’s homicide, according to court records. Police don’t believe anyone else will be charged, but Murry wants to see anyone else who was involved criminally charged. About 100 people, a mix of Bradley students and Peoria residents, attended the off-campus party in the 1800 block of West Bradley Avenue, police said.In the past week, Murry has tried to piece together what happened and has learned his daughter was near a door when the gunshots started.“I don’t understand why people from the neighborhood, you know people like gang-banging guys, would come to something like that,” he said. “They aren’t in school or nothing. It’s like they brought the devil there.”Nasjay Murry was the oldest of three, and she had two additional stepsisters, her father said. Her paternal grandmother, Patricia Hill, said the teen would stress out about her classes, but that she always managed to end up with good grades... (Chicago Tribune)
