The homeowner is a retired Army veteran who served in the Korean War, and his wife is a retired nurse who also worked as a monitor on a bus for disabled children. They've been married for 60 years and have lived in the same house for more than 40 years.
They lost their daughter earlier this year after she failed to get a kidney transplant. "We already had hardship this year," the son said.
The suspected burglar, identified by his mother as Anthony Nelson, was pronounced dead on the scene. Nelson was on parole after being sentenced to three years in prison for a 2009 drug conviction, according to Cook County and Illinois Department of Corrections records.
Nelson (see prison photo at right) had a criminal record that includes a number of other drug or weapons convictions going back to 1998. He lived less than a mile from where he was shot.
"I just don't want to believe it's true," his mother, Lenora Nelson, said.
Since being released on parole, Nelson started in an organization to help former prisoners to help them find work once they're released from prison, his mother said.
Lenora Nelson said her son loved to draw and build things. She said he obtained his GED in jail and had just signed up for an online carpentry program. "He could fix almost anything," she said.
Nelson was supposed to start a new job next week for a company that cleans out homes before they're remodeled, his mother said.
Asked what she felt toward the man who shot and killed her son, Lenora Nelson said, "I have no feelings for him at all."