Evanston student Aquan Lewis laid to rest as probes go on

By Tara Malone

Tribune reporter
February 12, 2009

One week after his body was found hanging in a school bathroom in Evanston, a 10-year-old boy was mourned Wednesday by relatives, teachers and a former coach who recalled a young player who always wanted to run the football.

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Flowers arranged in the shapes of a basketball and a football stood alongside Aquan Lewis' casket before an overflow crowd in First Church of God Christian Life Center in Evanston. And there, also fashioned out of flowers, was a football jersey emblazoned with his number, 83.

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"I want you to remember Aquan as I do, as a fun-loving, spirited young man filled with energy," said Tracey Wallace, who coached Aquan in Evanston Junior Wildkit Football. The funeral came amid lingering questions about the boy's death.

His mother, Angel Marshall of Skokie, has rejected the initial finding of suicide made by the Cook County medical examiner's office. Officials said Aquan hanged himself by his shirt collar in a bathroom of Oakton Elementary School after he ducked out of gym class Feb. 3. Earlier in the day, he threatened to harm himself after a teacher scolded him, sources said.

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A probe by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is ongoing. Evanston police continue to pursue a "death investigation.""Hopefully we'll have a conclusion at the end of the week at the earliest or early next week at the latest," Cmdr. Tom Guenther said. "We're still doing interviews with students, administrators and teachers."

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Despite the uncertainty and disbelief that a child so young could take his life, clergy members urged Aquan's family to take solace in all he accomplished in school and on the sports field. "We are left with unresolved investigations and unexplained circumstances surrounding his death. But I do know one thing, that God loves him," said Rev. Brenda Little.

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Oakton Principal Churchill Daniels Jr. and Evanston-Skokie School District 65 Supt. Hardy Murphy spoke during the service. Classmates performed a song and read poems written for Aquan, who they said was dependable and "like a brother to us."