Teenager severely beaten while trying to break up fight

From: WLS, IL - Jun 2, 2003

By Sarah Schulte

June 2, 2003 —A teenager trying to act as a Good Samaritan is fighting for his life. The 17-year old hearing-impaired student was trying to break up a fight on the city's South Side when the crowd turned on him.

Kevin Gavin is now on life support at Christ Hospital. His family has the very difficult decision to make on whether to take him off of life support. They say it's a decision they're not ready to make yet.

"We want God to be the final word," said Felicia Williams, Kevin's cousin.

His family is staying with him around the clock at the hospital. They are praying for a miracle.

Kevin's cousin Felicia says Kevin was trying to prefecture a friend from getting into a confutation with some teenagers when a male adult came out of a nearby gangway and began beating Kevin with a bat.

"Kevin was just over there talking to the guys trying to reason with them to find out what was going on and someone came out of the bushes and hit him in the back of the head with a bat and then they kept beating him with the bats and shovels and threw a bike on his face," said Felicia Williams, Kevin's cousin.

"When I got there he was laying on the ground face bloody and wrapped in towels," said Richard Gavin, Kevin's uncle.

Kevin's family says he is deaf in one ear and has minimal hearing in the other. They believe he never heard the offender coming from behind with the bat. The beating took place on a well-manicured lawn.

"God be with them and I'm praying that he can pull through this but I would like to have some justice done," said Pat King, Kevin's aunt.

The Gavin family says Kevin had a very bright future. He was on the honor roll, ran track and played for the Morgan Park High School Football Team. Because of his hearing the Gavin's say Kevin was not very social but he was dedicated to school and sports.

"He just loved life. You know, he goes to school he comes home. He eats, he loves eating. He does his homework. He is in bed by 8:30 or 9:00. He's up at 4:30 going to early practice and back with the routine and that's his life," said Felicia Williams, Kevin's cousin.

Earlier today the Morgan Park High School principals, the football coaches and the entire football team came to see Kevin and pray with him.

So far, police have not made any arrests in the case.

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