A group of local church leaders from the West Side and Oak Park announced Friday a $5,000 reward for anyone with tips or information leading to an arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for the murder of Oak Parker Jailyn Logan-Bledsoe.
Logan-Bledsoe, 18, was shot and killed nearly a week and a half ago in the parking lot of a BP gas station located at 100 Chicago Ave. in Oak Park. According to a news release, a witness told police two men approached the young woman from behind, fired one shot, stole items from her and then fled in her dark Chrysler vehicle. Police found Logan-Bledsoe unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the neck and transported her to Loyola University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
On Friday afternoon, members of the Leaders Network, a group made up of over a dozen faith leaders and activists from the West Side and Oak Park gathered outside the Oak Park Police Department, urging people to step forward if they have any information that could help solve Logan-Bledsoe’s case.
“Jailyn’s life means so much to us. She has impacted two communities,” said Rev. Ira Acree, who co-chairs the Leaders Network and is the pastor of the Greater St. John Bible Church in Austin.
Acree shared how Logan-Bledsoe’s death was particularly painful because of her family’s history of activism. Logan-Bledsoe’s grandmother, Phyllis Logan, serves as vice president of the Westside Branch NAACP and has dedicated her life to fighting for people’s rights, he said. The college-bound teen, herself, was also a member of the youth chapter of the NAACP and had plans to travel this summer to represent the organization.
Now, it’s time for others to step up, and those with information about Logan-Bledsoe’s case must come forward, Acree said. “We will not rest until these killers are off the streets.”
Congressman Danny Davis (7th) joined Acree and many others, saying they demand the police department do a “full” investigation and find justice for Logan-Bledsoe and closure for her family. Echoing Acree, other Leaders Network members such as the Rev. Cy Fields and the Rev. John Edgerton pleaded for help, sending a message to those responsible for Logan-Bledsoe’s death.
“You who pulled the trigger: If there’s any measure of humanity in you, any conscious, any value, turn yourself in,” said Fields, another co-chair of the Leaders Network and pastor of the New Landmark Missionary Baptist Church in East Garfield Park.
“Confess your faults, one to another,” he said. “You’ve done great harm. How can you live with yourself? How can you wake up in the morning and go about your daily tasks knowing that you have ended the life of someone precious?”
Edgerton, pastor of First United Church of Oak Park, and Deborah Williams, a member of the Westside NAACP, also took a moment to remember Logan-Bledsoe.
Logan-Bledsoe was a part of the Class of 2022 at Oak Park and River Forest High School and had plans to attend Howard University in the fall. She also nabbed a summer internship with a congressman, Edgerton said. Logan-Bledsoe was also a member of the student-led organization Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League (ROYAL).
“She is more than promising …” Edgerton said of Logan-Bledsoe. “To see a life like this snuffed out, it is a tragedy.”
The West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force is assisting the Oak Park Police Department in the investigation. Anyone with information related to the shooting should contact the police department at 708-386-3800. Those interested in providing information anonymously can do so through the village of Oak Park website at oak-park.us/crimetip or calling 708-434-1636.
