Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

A model and a teenage boy were shot on a Chicago street corner Monday evening at approximately 6:20 p.m., NBC reports.

The model, 20-year-old Kaylyn Pryor, had recently become known as a local celebrity after winning the famous “Mario, Make Me a Model” contest hosted by salon owner Mario Tricoci just over a month before.

Pryor was shot in the armpit and pronounced dead upon arrival to the Advocate Christ Medical Center; the 15-year-old boy, a teenager she casually knew from the neighborhood, was shot in the groin and is now in critical condition.

Pryor’s shooting death, which took place in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood, was particularly devastating because a nine-year-old boy had been shot to death in a separate incident in the same area only hours before.

Police don’t believe Pryor was the intended target, but they do suspect the event may have been gang related, the report says.

The beauty contest winner was simply walking to the bus stop to travel back home to Evanston from her grandparents’ house at the time of the shooting. Pryor was a novice to the modeling world; she had been studying at Robert Morris University and was an aspiring paralegal. Her father described her as ambitious, bubbly, energetic; in her contest profile, it said that Pryor enjoyed dancing, choreography, poetry, and drawing. Pryor never studied modeling, but decided to try Tricoci’s competition out of pure curiosity. Her charm and natural talent helped her take home the grand prize.

Hundreds expressed their condolences on Twitter this morning after hearing news of her untimely death.

Tricoci himself released the following statement:

We are saddened and broken-hearted to learn of the tragic passing of Kaylyn Pryor. Our hearts and prayers go out to her family…This touches every one of us who knew and worked with her. Kaylyn will be remembered for her kind and generous spirit. She truly was beautiful inside and out.

In September, the same time Pryor won the contest, Chicago suffered from one of its most violent months in many years. More than 50 people were shot over the course of two weekends each, back to back. The city also saw its deadliest day in more than a decade on Sept. 2 – nine people were fatally shot and approximately 12 others were wounded from gun violence throughout Chicago.

SOURCE: NBC | PHOTO CREDIT: Twitter

SEE ALSO: 

St. Louis Police Who Fatally Shot Kajieme Powell Will Not Face Criminal Charges

NEWS ROUNDUP: Half Of Black Millennials Know A Police Brutality Victim…AND MORE

Don’t Miss Our Hottest Stories! Get The NewsOne Flip App for iPhone: Flip, Skip — Or Send Us a Tip!