Woman fatally shot while celebrating 25th birthday at Auburn Gresham home

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Michelle Martin was asleep at her Auburn Gresham home when at least 10 gunshots from across the street startled her awake late Saturday.

After calling 911, she saw paramedics doing chest compressions on Kayla Winfrey, her neighbor of nearly six years, as she lay on a stretcher.

Winfrey, who was celebrating her 25th birthday at her home in the 8000 block of South Morgan Street around 11:45 p.m. Saturday,https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/04/12/auburn-gresham-shooting" target="_blank" > had been shot multiple times in her body and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 12:21 a.m. Sunday, Chicago police said.

A Matteson man, 36, was also shot, in the abdomen and leg, and taken in fair condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center, police said.

"It's sad, it's very sad," Martin, 55, said. "I hope they catch the person [who did it.]"

Winfrey had about 30 to 40 guests who were "mostly friends and family" present for her 25th birthday when a fight between two groups of females broke out, according to a police report obtained by the Sun-Times.

The fight moved out onto the front porch and a female involved in the fight called the alleged shooter, who arrived in a silver sedan and opened fire, hitting Winfrey and the Matteson man, according to the report.

The shooter, who police said was 26 and of the Washington Heights neighborhood, fled in a silver car and no arrests have been made, authorities said.

Martin described Winfrey and her mother as "great neighbors who were more like sisters instead of mother and daughter."

"I don’t think I'd be up and moving around as well as she is right now," Martin said of Winfrey's mother. "[Winfrey] was a real sweet girl."

While violence has been an issue in the area, Martin was still left surprised by the shooting.

"It's just really shocking for it to be so close to home," Martin said. "You see it, hear it, but there's nothing you can do about it."

Martin grew up in the Auburn Gresham area and moved back from the suburbs after her children graduated high school.

Saturday's shooting left her and her husband questioning whether it was time to move again.

"We've been talking seriously since this happened over the weekend, but it's like where do we go?" Martin said. "[The gun violence] is just really bad."