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CHICAGO<\/strong> – Angela Gregg no longer introduces herself by the name she was born with.<\/p>\n Today, she goes by Happy.<\/p>\n Not because life has been easy.<\/p>\n But because that’s what her 4-year-old son, Mychal “MJ” Moultry Jr., called her.<\/p>\n “When MJ was about 18 months old, he would call me ‘Happy,'” she told FOX Chicago. “I feel like that’s what he wanted to leave me. As a way to honor my son, I changed my name to Happy.”<\/p>\n More than 1,700 days have passed since Happy last held her only child.<\/p>\n Recently, she returned to the South Side Chicago apartment where her son was killed for the first time in years.<\/p>\n “I probably haven’t been back here in about three years,” she said.<\/p>\n A visit to Chicago ends in tragedy<\/strong> <\/p>\n The backstory:<\/p>\n On Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, Happy and her family were visiting Chicago from Alabama.<\/p>\n That evening, they were inside an apartment on the 6500 block of South Ellis Avenue on the city’s South Side.<\/p>\n Four-year-old MJ wasn’t outside playing. He wasn’t caught in the middle of an argument.<\/p>\n He was exactly where a little boy should have been \u2014 sitting patiently, getting his hair braided.<\/p>\n According to Chicago police, multiple shooters opened fire on the apartment, where the front living room had been converted into a hair salon.<\/p>\n “There were three people in this area that day,” Happy said. “Twenty-seven gunshots went off… and my baby was the only one that took two bullets.”<\/p>\n Surveillance video obtained by FOX 32 shows a vehicle slowly passing the building. About 50 seconds later, a barrage of gunfire erupts, echoing through the neighborhood.<\/p>\n Nearly five years later, the evidence remains.<\/p>\n FOX Chicago counted at least a half-dozen bullet holes still visible in the brick exterior of the building \u2014 lasting reminders of the dozens of rounds fired that night.<\/p>\n “You can see them,” Happy said while pointing to the building. “It was riddled with bullets. It was three shooters that day. MJ was sitting here.”<\/p>\n A mother’s regrets<\/strong> <\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n Happy says one of the hardest memories to relive is the final conversation she had with her son.<\/p>\n She had just finished getting her own hair done and stepped away to get him snacks.<\/p>\n She remembers MJ clinging to her, asking her not to leave.<\/p>\n Looking back, she says she wishes she had stayed.<\/p>\n “I just feel like if I was here with him, it wouldn’t have happened that way,” she said. “I would have done everything I could to save my baby.”<\/p>\n She also says she still has the email confirming she canceled a hair appointment in Alabama before the family traveled to Chicago.<\/p>\n She often wonders what would have happened had they never made the trip.<\/p>\n Turning grief into advocacy<\/strong> <\/p>\n Happy says the years without an arrest made healing even more difficult.<\/p>\n “He was 4 years old. He was innocent,” she said. “There were no leads. Nobody had been arrested. Justice was not swift. I think that perpetuated my grief.”<\/p>\n Instead of allowing that grief to consume her, she turned it into advocacy, helping other families impacted by gun violence while continuing to fight for justice for her son.<\/p>\n “If I ever get a wish… if I ever get a prayer… the only thing that I want is justice for my son.”<\/p>\n “We know who did it”<\/strong> <\/p>\n Dig deeper:<\/p>\n Happy believes investigators know who is responsible.<\/p>\n She says people have provided information to police, but no one has been willing to testify in court.<\/p>\n “We know who did it,” she said. “We’ve had people come forward… but those people are not willing to go into open court and testify.”<\/p>\n She says she understands prosecutors need sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges, but she remains frustrated by the lack of accountability.<\/p>\n “In real life, they have to meet a certain standard before they can make an arrest,” she said.<\/p>\n She also hopes prosecutors will continue looking at cases involving young children with the seriousness they deserve.<\/p>\n “We’re talking about children being murdered in your state,” she said.<\/p>\n Keeping MJ close<\/strong> <\/p>\n Every day, Happy carries reminders of her son.<\/p>\n She wears his necklace.<\/p>\n She still keeps his backpack.<\/p>\n She has incorporated locks of his hair into her own.<\/p>\n “I still have all of his things,” she said. “It does bring me peace because I feel like it’s a little part of him.”<\/p>\n She says changing her own name was another way to keep MJ close.<\/p>\n Every time someone calls her “Happy,” they are unknowingly honoring the little boy who gave her that name.<\/p>\n $10,000 reward offered<\/strong> <\/p>\n Nearly five years after the murder of Mychal “MJ” Moultry Jr., no one has been arrested.<\/p>\n Chicago police say the investigation remains open.<\/p>\n Crime Stoppers is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.<\/p>\n Anyone with information can submit an anonymous tip through CPDTIP.com<\/a> or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously.<\/p>\n For Happy, the hope remains unchanged.<\/p>\n “I just want to know why they thought it would be a good day to pull up on this block and shoot into a place where you had no idea who you were shooting at… and you murdered my son.”<\/p>\n The Source:<\/b> The information in this article was reported by FOX Chicago’s Tia Ewing.<\/p>\n Special Reports<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Chicago<\/a>News<\/a>Woodlawn<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO – Angela Gregg no longer introduces herself by the name she was born with. 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