The Chicago streets claimed another life last night when Little Village resident, 16-year-old Roky Uriostegui, was shot by an alleged gang member on the 2600 block of West 23rd Place.

According to the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, the area has a problem with gangs– the Satan’s Disciples and the Latin Kings in particular. Still, it is unclear whether Uriostegui was in a gang or not.

Following events like this the inevitable question always arises: Was the victim a gang member? Just look at the headline in the Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Innocent kid’ slain in Little Village shooting. Granted, the quotation marks are used to indicate an actual quote, but my initial response to the headline was: “Well, aren’t we snarky?”

Still, the media is not the only group wondering about the boy’s innocence; Chicago residents are asking the same question.

On a message board today, one young woman asserted:

Roky was not in a gang! I know this because I was a personal friend of his! Kids should look at this story and take in consideration how dangerous gangs really are, and how far they are willing to go!

Others were not so sure, like this local man:

Very sad for this young lad, but articles like this usually always state that the kid was great, straight A’s, and then they show his 8th grade graduation picture on the news. Most of the time this is not mistaken identity but the boy was usually a gang member or hanging with them.

The question is: Does it make a difference one way or the other?

Now readers, I want your opinion. Do you think it matters if Uriostegui was in a gang or not?