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Karla Lee: Mother Of Slain 9-Year-Old Tyshawn Lee Reportedly Takes $17,000 Donated For His Funeral, Buys A New Car Instead

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 16:32 PST, Nov 7, 2015

Karla Lee is under fire after the grieving mother of murdered 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee apparently took money donated to help lay the boy to rest and instead used it to buy a new car.

Tyshawn Lee was slain this week in a murder that has shocked the nation. Investigators say the fourth grader was lured into an alley near his grandmother’s house in Chicago and executed by gang members, who are reportedly rivals with the boy’s father.

The seemingly senseless murder led many people to reach out to the Lee family, and a GoFundMe page was started to help pay for his funeral.

But instead, Tyshawn’s mother, Karla Lee, reportedly used some or all of the $17,000 raised to buy herself a new car, DNAinfo reported. This sparked anger among many who believe she was misusing the money, and many left comments on the fundraiser page calling out the grieving mother.

“I’m speechless that Karla Lee would use the funding to bury her son to go purchase a car,” wrote Wendy Casey. “Why couldn’t you waited until after the funeral? You say, your son would have wanted you to have it…… Let’s not use selflessness and stupidity on the death of your son. Your son would’ve wanted you to be a parent, a responsible parent by having a life insurance policy on him and yourself so your family members and friends would not have to raise burial expenses. This culture of silliness, selflessness, ignorance and stupidity must stop!!!!”

But Karla Lee spoke out to defend her actions, posting videos on Instagram early Saturday morning saying that the car is needed for her own safety.

“If a m—–f—– telling you they gonna try to take your life, too, because of whatever the f— is going on… they already took my son. I walk to work, I get on the bus. I’m not trying to be a target for nobody,” Karla Lee said in one of the videos.

Karla Lee also asked that her critics simply keep quiet, adding that “I’m pretty sure that’s something my son would have wanted me to do.”

Karla Lee is not the first family member of Tyshawn Lee to create controversy. In the days after the boy’s execution killing, investigators expressed frustration that the boy’s father was refusing to cooperate.

Police added that they believe the father, Pierre Stokes, has been part of the escalating gang war that led to Tyshawn Lee’s death. Stokes has been identified as a member of a gang, one that has split apart into two warring factions. There have been a number of assaults related to the gang squabble, police said.

Despite his alleged involvement in the gang, Pierre Stokes is not helping investigators find his son’s killer, police said.

“Let me put it this way. We’ve tried to interview him at least twice,” said Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. “I can’t even tell you what he said because you can’t say it on TV. But he made it emphatically clear that he’s not cooperating with us.”

Stokes said he thinks police should focus less on him and more on his son’s death, which he believes was a targeted hit.

“If he wasn’t a target he wouldn’t have gotten hit so many times in the back and the face. I think he was a target,” said Stokes (via CBS News).

Tyshawn Lee’s murder is part of escalating violence in Chicago. Between January 1 and October 25 there were 391 murders, up 18 percent from that period in 2014. A number of those victims have been children caught in the crossfire, including a seven-year-old killed in July by gang members who were trying to target his father, who is allegedly a gang member.

Authorities are now calling on the public to help find the people who murdered Tyshawn Lee. Local community leaders and police are offering a $54,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

[Image via Lee family/CBS News]

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