Forest Park business helps fund funeral services for veteran killed in Labor Day shooting on Blue Line train

FOREST PARK, Ill. — A Marine veteran who was among four victims killed in a shooting on a Blue Line train in Forest Park last week will be laid to rest on Tuesday thanks to the help of a local business.

Simeon Bihesi, 28, was one of four people who were gunned down in the early morning hours on Labor Day while they slept on a CTA Blue Line train in the 700 block of Des Plaines Avenue in west suburban Forest Park.

Bihesi’s family told WGN-TV that they were struggling to afford a proper burial, but thanks to the help of Buddy Bear Car Wash President Phil Degeratto, Bihesi will now be laid to rest in Forest Park.

According to Degeratto, after hearing about the deadly shooting, he wanted to step up and help Bihesi’s family by covering funeral costs.

“Hearing that a young man and a veteran, homeless. I have many family members who served in the armed forces. My grandpa served in World War Two, he came home got a Purple Heart, was a medic, suffered from PTSD,” Degeratto said. “Hearing from his father and how devastated he was and couldn’t afford the burial, I just felt we had to step.”

Tuesday’s Service will begin with visitation from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Zimmerman-Harnett Funeral Home in the 7300 block of Madison Street before a procession to Concordia Cemetery in the 7900 block of West Madison Street at 11 a.m.

A graveside service led by Pastor Dawayne Choice, from Engage Christian Church, will then be held at the cemetery at 11:15 a.m.

The public is invited to attend the service and organizers said fellow Marines and Military veterans will be present to honor Bihesi’s life.

Bihesi grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and served in the United States Marine Corps. He had hoped to one day become a police officer, but after returning from the service, he lost his home to foreclosure, forcing him into homelessness.

Family members said after he lost his home, Bihesi struggled with his mental and physical health.

“He’s a peaceful guy. He never had any problem with the law,” Bihesi’s father Leonard Nyamusevya said.

Funeral arrangements for the three other victims , 60-year-old Adrian Collins, 64-year-old Margaret Miller and 52-year-old Sean Jones, are pending.

The deadly Labor Day shooting sparked a brief manhunt by Forest Park police and CTA security, who were able to quickly locate the alleged gunman with the help of video surveillance.

The alleged shooter, 30-year-old Rhanni S. Davis, has since been charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

Forest Park Mayor Rory Hoskins said officers described surveillance video of the shooting as “brutal” and “gruesome.”

City leaders in Forest Park, a village where two major train lines end, said they have appealed to state lawmakers for greater investment into public safety and law enforcement personnel at the train lines, as they regularly require a police and fire presence.

“Our police department and our fire department respond to this location probably more than any other location in our jurisdiction,” Hoskins said. “Forest Park is the only community in Cook County … with two major train lines that end (there). So we provide police response, and fire and medical response.

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