Dozens of family members, friends and community activists gathered Friday afternoon on the South Side to mourn the death of a black teenager fatally shot by a Chicago police sergeant the night before Thanksgiving. 

Nineteen-year-old Kajuan Raye was shot in the back by a police sergeant after a foot chase in the South Side’s West Englewood neighborhood, according to statements from the police department and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. 

Raye’s mother, Karonisha Ramsey, spoke at the Friday vigil after seeing her son’s body at the medical examiner’s office.

“This is not the order — you are not supposed to bury your kids,” she said while tears streamed down her cheeks. “Whatever [Kajuan] did, he wasn’t doing it then when they shot him down….He’s going to be missed by a lot of people. He only lived 19 years, but he touched a lot of people.”

After a few members of Raye’s family spoke, organizers lit prayer candles and launched balloons into the air.

According to a police department statement, a sergeant told investigators that Raye allegedly turned and pointed a gun in his direction two times during a foot chase before the he shot Raye. The sergeant said he received a call of a “battery in progress” and Raye fit the suspect’s description, the statement said.

Police Supt. Eddie Johnson told reporters Thursday that investigators have not found any weapon after an extensive search. Johnson also said there was “missing information” in the officer’s timeline, and investigators were seeking surveillance video that may have captured the shooting. 

City officials said the Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the shooting.

Miles Bryan is a reporter for WBEZ. You can follow him @miles__bryan.