Mail carrier Sharralle Williams tried to save 8-year-old Josiah Hooker killed in Grand Crossing, Chicago shooting: 'Traumatizing'

CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago mail carriers navigate not only the elements, but sometimes elements of danger.

Last week, a mail carrier was called on to help an injured child, and she did not hesitate.

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Tuesday marked five days since 8-year-old Josiah Hooker was killed inside a Grand Crossing home.

Memories of that day keep replaying for a Chicago mail carrier Sharralle Williams.

She was delivering mail across the street on Thursday when she saw a woman screaming for help.

“I dropped my stuff, and I ran to go help. When I got over there, I realized it was a baby,” Williams said.

Williams assisted a father in performing CPR on his son before paramedics arrived. She mentioned to ABC7 that she had received CPR training as a childcare provider.

She instructed the father, “You breathe for me. I’ll do the chest compressions. Let’s try to take care of this young man.” Williams expressed her shock at the situation, realizing the victim was a child.

Despite their efforts, the boy died at Comer Children’s Hospital.

“I just broke down crying some more, because I was hoping against – hope that he was going to make it,” Williams said.

Williams, who is a mother of two young children herself, says this has shaken her. She has not been back to work.

“This has been traumatizing,” Williams said. “I’m extremely sad. I have cried so much since this has happened.”

ABC7 has learned that Derrick Taylor is charged with endangering a child and illegal possession of a weapon.

During the court proceedings, prosecutors stated that Taylor was the only adult at home with his five sons and stepsons when the incident occurred. Allegedly, he left a gun on a dresser behind a TV while he and the boys were napping. Prosecutors claimed that one of the boys got hold of the gun.

Taylor claims he told authorities he woke up to the sound of gunfire and seeing his 8-year-old with what would be a deadly wound.

Williams has a son one year older than Hooker, and another son one year younger. And she now tells her boys, if they ever see a gun, do not touch it.

“I just grabbed my kids so fast and just held them and cried, and saying, ‘Mommy, what’s wrong?'” Williams said. “We should not be burying our children… Keep that family in your prayers. I’m going to keep that family in my prayers as well.”

Williams says she wants to go back to work eventually. But for now, she says she is getting support, as she cannot sleep without seeing that scene. She told ABC7 that she misses her customers.

Williams also shared that she was inspired to be a mail carrier when she was a child by her neighborhood mail carrier, and she hopes to inspire others to be of service in their communities whenever possible.

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