Community, loved ones honor slain violence prevention advocate

On Halloween night, Patricia Davis was on the phone with Andre Thomas, her partner of six years, asking him to come home when the line went dead.

He'd just been gunned down at his office in Chicago Heights.

The killing devastated her. She lost her brother to gun violence 20 years ago. She insisted that Thomas was a great man. As an anti-violence activist, he knew that his line of work put him in danger, she said. The danger never deterred him.

“He said, ‘I ain’t stopping. They gonna have to take me out,’” Davis, 43, told the Sun-Times through tears.

More than 100 people, including Thomas' friends and family and community violence intervention organizations from across Chicago, gathered near his outreach organization's Englewood office Thursday for a balloon release ceremony to honor his life and legacy.

Octavio Jones/For the Sun-Times

Thomas, 57, spent most of his adult life working in violence prevention. He most recently served as the CEO and executive director of Integrity & Fidelity. before the shooting Saturday night.

He founded I&F in 2021 to educate communities in the South suburbs and Chicago about alternative conflict resolution strategies, intervene in street conflicts by building relationships and responding in real time, and connect residents with support services, according to the organization's website.

Mark Saint, who met Thomas while the two worked at the University of Chicago, is now serving as I&F's interim executive director.

Saint recalled driving through Wilmette with Thomas in 2025 when they passed two children running a lemonade stand and laughing. A little farther along, they saw another child jump off his bike and run into his home without stopping because the door was unlocked.

Octavio Jones/For the Sun-Times

“And we remarked how 19 miles difference can look so different,” Saint said. “And the vision was that our communities have that same health and safety, to have that same place where children can run and play, that we want to replace the sound of gunfire with the sound of children laughing.”

Thursday's ceremony included remarks from Saint, Ald. David Moore (17th) and Crystal Toran, whom Thomas mentored when she entered the community violence intervention field.

Toran said she was hurt and angry when she first heard Thomas had been killed.

“I was hurt because there was a lot more work that he planned to do,” Toran said. “I was angry because this is what he dedicated his life to and it’s what took him away.”

But the turnout at the ceremony reflected the impact Thomas had on the people around him, she said. She hopes those who knew him will continue his work and carry forward his values, teachings and legacy.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

“It didn’t matter how much of an uphill climb it was — he was gonna get in there,” Toran said. “He was gonna face adversity, he was gonna ruffle the feathers and he was gonna get it done.”