Couple Awaiting Son's Return from Prison Slain
By Anthonia Akitunde in News on Aug 9, 2009 8:30PM
A couple eager to welcome their recently paroled son home from prison were found shot to death in their basement Saturday morning, Chicago Breaking News reports.
The bodies of Geraldine Simmons, 63, and Bernard Smith, 70, were found by a neighbor in their far South Side neighborhood of Roseland. Relatives were preparing to celebrate the homecoming of the couple's youngest son who had been released from a Georgia prison after serving eight of a 12 year prison sentence. He was sentenced in 2001 for aggravated assault, according to Chicago Breaking News.
Although he seemed happy to be free, Simmons and Smith's daughter said her brother butted heads with their parents about what direction his life should take post-prison. While the couple wanted their son to return to school, "he wanted to be a rapper or a video star," Deborah Simmons said.
A family member dropped off the couple's son at their home Friday night, a "condition of his parole," the report said. He hasn't been seen since.