Chicago mom seeks witnesses months after son's fatal shooting at 31st Street Beach
Chicago mother pleads for witnesses in son's killing
It's been months since a college football player tried to help and got shot. His mom still comes back to the spot where it happened in Bronzeville, hoping someone will finally step up and say what happened.
CHICAGO - A 22-year-old college football player with dreams of making it to the NFL lost his life after a confrontation at Chicago's 31st Street Beach that his mother says began with a simple act of kindness.
Now, months after her son was shot, Dunyel Green is returning to the place where his life changed forever, hoping someone who witnessed the violence will help police find the person responsible.
Her son, D'Marion Green, was shot in the head and chest on June 30, 2026. He survived for more than a month before dying on August 8.
"My son didn't deserve it," Green told FOX 32 Chicago while holding his obituary.
A day at the beach turns deadly
According to his mother, D'Marion had the day off from work and decided to spend the afternoon enjoying the weather at 31st Street Beach.
He arrived around 3 p.m., eventually meeting friends and spending time with families and children at the beach.
"He was off work the day of June 30th and he just wanted to come out for a breath of fresh air to enjoy the weather," Green said.
Later that evening, D'Marion joined acquaintances attending a party on a boat.
Around 11 p.m., after leaving the boat, his mother says he noticed a woman struggling with a bag and offered to help her.
That gesture, according to Green, was misunderstood by a man who accused D'Marion of trying to flirt with someone else's girlfriend.
Green says her son explained that he was only trying to help, but the situation escalated into a fistfight.
She says Chicago police intervened, stopping the man involved in the confrontation while D'Marion walked away to wait for his ride.
But according to his mother, the confrontation wasn't over.
The same man allegedly returned from the parking lot with several other people and approached D'Marion again.
Another fight broke out.
This time, someone had a gun.
"They ended up fighting again, and one of the guys that he brought with him shot my son," Green said.
Her son was struck in the head and chest near an area of the beach where visitors rinse sand off before leaving.
A mother forced to say goodbye
D'Marion survived the initial shooting but suffered devastating injuries.
His mother says he lost his eyesight and could no longer comprehend what was happening around him.
After spending weeks receiving medical care, he was eventually brought home under hospice care.
Green described the anguish of watching her son suffer, unable to know whether he was experiencing pain.
"I didn't want to let him suffer no more. I didn't know when he was in pain," she said.
D'Marion died August 8, more than five weeks after the shooting.
For his mother, the grief is compounded by the circumstances surrounding the violence.
"He was being what he was taught to be," she said, referring to her son's attempt to help the woman. "It's hurtful, it hurts."
A promising football career cut short
D'Marion was more than a shooting victim.
He was an honor-roll student, a hardworking young man and a football player at Eastern Illinois University with dreams of playing professionally.
His mother says he began playing football as a child with the Dixmoor Vikings before eventually attending Phillips Academy High School in Chicago.
Football remained a major part of his life as he continued his education at Eastern Illinois University.
"He was a star football player at EIU. He had so much life ahead of him," Green said.
His ultimate goal was to make it to the NFL.
But he also had another dream.
Green says her son loved cooking and hoped to open a restaurant if professional football didn't work out.
He was especially known among friends at college for his Alfredo pasta, which he planned to feature on the menu.
"His dream was to go to the NFL," Green said. "His second thing was to open up his own restaurant."
Instead of celebrating his accomplishments and preparing for his future, his family is now mourning a life cut short.
D'Marion would have turned 23 on October 29.
Mom questions what happened after police intervened
Green says she is troubled by what witnesses reportedly told her about the moments leading up to the shooting.
According to her account, officers intervened during the first fight, but the man involved later returned with others and confronted her son again.
She wants to know how the situation escalated into gunfire after police had reportedly already been involved.
Green also says detectives told her that approximately 20 to 25 people were present during the incident.
Yet, according to the mother, investigators still need witnesses to come forward to help identify the person who fired the shots.
"The police are saying that they need witnesses to come forward so that they can make an arrest," Green said. "What about the cameras? They saw everything else."
She believes surveillance cameras at the beach may have captured important moments surrounding the confrontation.
Green also says investigators recovered a firearm but told her no fingerprints were found. She says the family is waiting to learn whether DNA testing could provide additional evidence.
FOX 32 has not independently confirmed those investigative details or the mother's account of the officers' actions.
Family pleads for witnesses
Green believes someone at the beach that night knows who killed her son.
She is especially hoping to hear from the woman D'Marion reportedly offered to help, along with others who attended the boat party or witnessed either confrontation.
"I'm just begging for anybody, if you've seen anything, heard anything, to come forward," Green said.
"If it was your child, if it was your brother, your family member, period, you would want somebody to speak out, do the right thing, and turn these people in."
The mother says she has returned to 31st Street Beach several times, hoping to better understand what happened during her son's final night there.
Standing near the spot where he was shot remains painful.
"It's heartbreaking. I break down every time," she said.
Green says she will continue speaking publicly about her son's death until those responsible are identified and held accountable.
Her family is asking anyone with information about the June 30 shooting at 31st Street Beach to contact Chicago police Area One detectives at 312-747-8380.
For a mother who worked to give her son opportunities through education, athletics and hard work, the loss is immeasurable.
D'Marion had dreams of playing in the NFL, graduating from college and perhaps opening his own restaurant.
Instead, his mother is left holding his obituary and asking strangers to help her find answers.
"He was being what he was taught to be," she said.
And for Dunyel Green, that is what makes her son's death especially difficult to understand.
The Source: The information in this story came from the Chicago Police Department and the Green family.