Friend of man killed in Lawrenceville shooting speaks out

A shooting left one dead after his evening in Lawrenceville and this is the third in recent months.

“Wrong place, wrong time, and Neill didn’t deserve to be in the wrong place at all,” Joey Janicky told Channel 11.

Janicky found out about the murder of one of his best friends, Neil Yackovich, when he woke up to dozens of texts and calls two weekends ago.

“Neill was a really great guy. Even people who weren’t close friends with him would say he was a good person. He had a giant good heart,” he said.

Yackovich was shot and killed when police say an unknown woman, Nykia Edwards, shot him outside an AirBnB party on Butler Street.

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Edwards was outside with his girlfriend when she claims Yackovich started running toward her and she thought he might have a knife.

“Neill just left the bar and was casually walking back to his truck to go home. I don’t think Neill was running towards anyone; he was probably trying to run away from her,” Janicky added.

Police say the suspect told investigators she was paranoid that people were trying to kill her, so she fired a gun at Yackovich.

When detectives questioned her, they said she told them she got rid of the gun before getting on a bus to the South Side, then allegedly admitted she should not have shot the victim.

“I have anger, but it won’t do me any good. I’m just going to pray for her,” Janicky said.

Janicky told Channel 11 he wishes he could go back to that night.

“One of us should have been with him. I’m not saying it could have been avoided, but I feel bad that none of us were with him that night,” he added.

Edwards has a hearing scheduled for May 8.

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