Among the toys and outfits Ulysses Campos’ father had bought and hidden away for the 9-year-old’s quickly approaching birthday was one shining gem: a PlayStation 5 video game console.
The dad was eager to give the gift to his son, the boy’s cousin said.
“He knew he was going to love it,” she added.
But the father will never get to see his son open that box.
Campos was shot and killed Saturday while playing at his grandmother’s 70th birthday party in west suburban Franklin Park.
Police said Tuesday that Melrose Park resident Javier Murillo, 37, has been charged with first-degree murder in Campos’ death. Murillo is set to appear before a judge in the Maybrook Courthouse for a bond hearing, Police Chief Michael Witz wrote in a statement.
In a statement released Sunday, authorities said a person of interest was in custody and the suspect’s car had been located nearby.
“This was a very tragic and sad event, and our prayers go out to the family of Ulysses,” Witz wrote Tuesday.
As Karina Cazares, 26, remembered her cousin on Monday, she told the Tribune he had a “husky little voice.”
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“We always knew it was him,” Cazares said. “We knew it was Uly.”
She described the slain child as “goofy,” “fun” and “loving.”
“Very charismatic, very energetic,” Cazares said. “He always had a song or dance that he was doing. He made people laugh.”
Campos had been playing near an alley when gunshots broke out from a moving car late Saturday night. The bullets flew around a group of other kids, Cazares said.
A GoFundMe account that Cazares set up to help the family pay for memorial services had raised just under $20,000 in one day as of Monday night. The outpouring of support surprised the mourning family, she said.
The shooting came as a shock as the family celebrated the birthday of their matriarch, she added. They had family gatherings before at the Elder Lane house near Grant Avenue with no issues. But the attack, which Cazares described as “completely random” and “not targeted,” left the family terrified and shocked, she said.
Ulysses was an “innocent kid” who the family will remember as a kindhearted jokester, Cazares said. She can feel a void in her family, she added.
“If you needed (anything), he’d help you out, whether it was setting the table or bringing the groceries in,” Cazares said. “He had his whole life ahead of him. Everything,” she said.