Julia Baker was relaxing on her couch, about to make a grocery list, when gunshots rang out just three doors down the Monday after Christmas.
With a full house — her son, daughter, sister, and two grandchildren all living with her at 46 Apache St. — Baker quickly got up to check on her family. That split-second decision likely saved her life, she said.
Moments later, a car fleeing the gunfire crashed into her vehicle parked out front, pushing it into her home and destroying the living room where she had been sitting.
While grateful that neither she nor her family members were injured, Baker said she has since faced numerous challenges. The village declared her home uninhabitable until repairs can be made, but as she searches for temporary housing her funds are quickly dwindling while paying for hotel stays.
Still, she reminds herself it could have been worse.
“When I start getting down, I have to think about the fact that if I hadn’t jumped off the couch, I could have been, if nothing else, very injured,” she said.
Park Forest Deputy Chief John DeCeault said police responded to a report of shots fired and a resulting motor vehicle accident about 4 p.m. Dec. 30.
A 44-year-old man told officers he was being shot at while fleeing from another vehicle, DeCeault said. In the process, he drove off the road, striking Baker’s car and pushing it into the residence, he said.
DeCeault said a preliminary investigation indicates the man was alone in his vehicle, which was initially parked on the road while he was talking to a friend outside. While they were talking, another car approached and several people inside began shooting at them, the man told police.
It appears the man and his friend were deliberately targeted, DeCeault said, but an investigation is ongoing.
“I’ve heard gunshots in the neighborhood before, but never that amount and never at that time of the day. It’s always been in the evening,” said Baker, who has lived in the Beacon Hill neighborhood on the outskirts of Chicago Heights since 2008. “It was just unbelievable.”
Close friends of Baker say she is no stranger to hardship.
Having lost two husbands and now facing the gradual loss of her eyesight, Baker has endured much, said her close friend Donna Barron, who met her in the ’90s while they both worked at LensCrafters.
Despite the challenges, Barron said Baker remains the person others turn to in times of need. Even as she struggles with her eyesight, Barron said, “she still wants to take care of everybody.”
Baker acknowledges this trait, though it has also contributed to her current situation — while everyone seeks her help, she now finds herself with nowhere to stay.
“I don’t have relatives that stay with, I am the relative everybody lives with,” she said. “So everyone says call your family. I am the family. I’m the one that people call to come stay with.”
After the crash, Baker said she felt completely overwhelmed, but thankfully some friends stepped up to cover a portion of her hotel costs.
Barron created a GoFundMe page for Baker which, as of Friday, raised $890.
“These are times where we step up and help those that we know care and are the type that give back. They don’t always need it and they don’t always ask. But I wanted to and hoped that we could get something,” Barron said.
While Baker is grateful for the financial support from close friends and coworkers, she said the funds will only cover a few more hotel stays.
Another caveat, Baker said, is that although she’s a renter, the property doesn’t have homeowners insurance.
After her previous landlord died, Baker said she began making rent payments to his son, who later asked her to stop paying, stating he didn’t want the house. Since then, no one has claimed ownership, leaving the property uninsured, she said.
Baker is hopeful the auto insurance of the driver responsible for crashing into her car and home will cover some or all of the repair costs. Still, she worries she may be left to cover part of the expenses — repairs she may not be able to afford.
“Having that much money up front, just around, is not something I’m lucky enough to have,” she said.
“I’m taking it day by day. So every day, I’m going into my account, going, ‘OK, I can make it another night.’ So I’m just hoping something happens — either with the money or with the repair of the house — before my funds completely run out.”
Baker said she was given just a few minutes to gather belongings before her home was sealed off, and with the holidays, finding temporary housing proved impossible, she said. Her biggest challenge, she said, was that while Cook County and agencies such as the Red Cross offer aid for natural disasters like tornadoes or fires, her situation was different — her home was damaged due to a manmade incident.
Despite contacting over 10 nonprofit organizations and even exploring homeless shelters, Baker said she hasn’t been able to find any emergency housing assistance.
“I don’t really know what to do, what’s going to happen,” she said. “I’m just kind of taking it day by day and step by step and trying to, you know, figure out each battle as it approaches.”
Baker said though the damage was no fault of her own, she became an unintended victim of gun violence, having to pick up the pieces of the destruction.
“I just really want people to just stop this violence,” she said. “Innocent people who had nothing to do with whatever took place at that residence are now suffering, and the people you were intended to harm, they probably have moved on.”
“My whole family are now having to deal with the aftermath of all this, which we were all innocent bystanders with the whole thing,” she said.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
