Family rejects suicide in Crane basketball player’s death; CPD says no cop fired 
 
 Terinica Thomas, Steve Rosenthal's aunt, weeps as family and friends march in response to the death of Steve Rosenthal on August 19, 2018. | Colin Boyle/Sun-Times 
 
 Chicago police say there is no evidence that any officer fired a weapon during the Friday night encounter that ended with the death of a 15-year-old Crane High School basketball player. 
 
 But in the latest sign of distrust between the community and the Chicago Police Department, Steven Rosenthal’s family marched with activists through North Lawndale on Sunday, rejecting the conclusion that Rosenthal committed suicide. 
 
 “My nephew would never commit suicide, ever,” Terinica Thomas, the boy’s aunt and legal guardian, declared Sunday. 
 
 Thomas made her comment during a press conference outside Johnson School of Excellence, where her family’s lawyer, Andrew Stroth, called for an independent investigation into Rosenthal’s death. He insisted that eyewitnesses saw Rosenthal’s death play out differently, but he did not name them or say how many there are. 
 
 “The family is demanding to see the evidence,” Stroth said. 
 
 Stroth called on authorities to release footage of Rosenthal’s death. But CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said no footage had been found Sunday that depicts the moment Rosenthal was shot. He said it’s unclear if state law would allow the public release of the existing footage, given how Rosenthal died. 
 
 Rosenthal died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head — not in a use-of-force situation — according to official accounts. The Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled Rosenthal’s death a suicide following an autopsy Saturday. 
 
 Chicago police said officers spotted Rosenthal with a gun and tried to stop him about 6:55 p.m. Friday near his home in the 1500 block of South Keeler. Rosenthal ran away, and then he “tragically used the weapon on himself,” Guglielmi tweeted. 
 
 Rosenthal died a half-hour later at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the medical examiner’s office. 
 
 Alonzo Crowder, head coach of boys basketball at Crane Medical Prep High School, said Rosenthal’s mother died of an illness shortly after the season ended in March. Rosenthal’s father died when he was 6. 
 
 Still, neighbors and friends say the authorities’ account of Rosenthal shooting himself while running from police was out of character. 
 
 Guglielmi said there is no video or ballistic evidence that suggests an officer fired a gun during the encounter with Rosenthal. He also said no officer reported opening fire, as is required by law and department policy. 
 
 Guglielmi called Rosenthal’s death “an absolute tragedy.” Asked about the disbelief in the community, he said “suicide is an immensely difficult and painful thing to deal with” and he said, “our deepest condolences go out to this family.” 
 
 But Thomas, Stroth and others wanted answers Sunday instead, marching from the school at Douglas and Albany to Mount Sinai before walking to CPD’s 10th district headquarters on Ogden. 
 
 Outside the police station, the group first formed a circle on Ogden but eventually converged as they directed their ire toward the few officers standing outside. 
 
 They chanted “justice for Steve.” They promised to return every night for 30 days. 
 
 And, they insisted, “We want the tape!” 
 
 Contributing: Rachel Hinton, Michael O’Brien ||||| More than 120 people gathered to protest the death of 15-year-old Steven Rosenthal, who police say fatally shot himself on the back stairwell of his West Side home after he was briefly chased by officers who allegedly saw him holding a handgun. 
 
 Shouting “No justice, no peace,�? or “Let us see Steve,�? the crowd gathered Sunday at Johnson School of Excellence at 1420 S. Albany Ave. and marched to Mount Sinai Hospital a few blocks away, shutting down both lanes of Ogden Avenue at times. 
 
 A brief altercation ensued outside the hospital’s emergency room when a large group chanting “Let us see Steve�? tried to force their way into the building and scuffled briefly with security officers blocking the doorway. A few people in the crowd wondered why the protesters went to the hospital rather than the Cook County medical examiner’s office, where the teen’s body was taken for an autopsy. 
 
 The protest later moved west down Ogden and continued along 16th Street as Chicago police officers in squad cars closed down streets to allow the marchers to pass unhindered by traffic. 
 
 Rosenthal died Friday evening at his home in the 1500 block of South Keeler Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood, and the medical examiner’s office ruled his death a suicide from a gunshot wound to the head. 
 
 Police said the teen fled when officers tried to question him after spotting him with a weapon just before 7 p.m. Friday. A short time afterward, Rosenthal shot himself in the head, police said. 
 
 READ MORE: Dozens gather at scene of 15-year-old's suicide following police chase: 'He had a promising future' » 
 
 But Rosenthal’s family vehemently denies the teen would have ever shot himself and laid the blame on the officers, who they said they believe shot him based on what individuals who claim to have witnessed the incident have said. 
 
 “Steven was on the stairwell of his grandmother’s house on the West Side of Chicago when police officers stormed up the stairwell chasing,�? the family’s attorney, Andrew Stroth, said at a news conference prior to the march Sunday. “Within moments, these officers, without cause or provocation, shot and killed 15-year old Steven. … Based on several eyewitness accounts, these officers ended the hopes and the dreams of a talented young man with a bright future.�? 
 
 Rosenthal’s aunt, the teen’s legal guardian, sobbed as she made a public plea to Mayor Rahm Emanuel to order the release of any body camera recordings of the shooting. 
 
 “My 15-year old nephew Steven was shot and killed by the Chicago Police Department,�? Terinica Thomas-Level, 28, said, weeping and shaking visibly as she stood before the news media. “I need the attention of Mayor Emanuel. I need to see evidence. Body cams. They need to release the video. My nephew would never commit suicide ever. … If he (Emanuel) even had the smallest compassion for our family, he’d get those videotapes released.�? 
 
 On Sunday, police spokesman Michael Carroll said that the shooting remains under investigation and that the department “has not come to a point where the decision has been made to release the body cam video.�? 
 
 Carroll said he was not aware of whether any formal complaint had been lodged by the family alleging police misconduct in the death of Rosenthal. 
 
 Stroth said that he and the family are demanding a “full, independent and transparent�? investigation into Rosenthal’s death. So far, the family has not been able to view his remains, he said. 
 
 “The medical examiner has not released Steven’s body,�? Stroth said at the news conference. “The family is demanding to see the body, the family is demanding to see the evidence, the family is demanding to see the supposed, alleged weapon that was on the scene. The family deserves justice, and that’s what the family is fighting for.�? 
 
 mwalberg@chicagotribune.com 
 
 Twitter @mattwalberg1
– A 15-year-old Chicago teen was shot to death last week, but the police and his family have very different accounts of what happened. Police say they spotted Steven Rosenthal with a gun Friday evening and gave chase on foot, reports the Chicago Tribune. During the chase, the teen used the gun to shoot himself in the head, police say. However, Rosenthal's family say he would never kill himself and accuse police of shooting him. "My nephew would never commit suicide, ever," says Terinica Thomas, his legal guardian, per the Chicago Sun-Times. The family is demanding that police turn over bodycam footage in the case, but a department spokesman says no decision has been made about that yet. "Steven was on the stairwell of his grandmother's house on the West Side of Chicago when police officers stormed up the stairwell chasing," family attorney Andrew Stroth said Sunday, prior to a march in the teen's name, per the Tribune. "Within moments, these officers, without cause or provocation, shot and killed 15-year old Steven," he said, citing eyewitness accounts. The Cook County medical examiner, however, has ruled the death a suicide, and police insist that no officers opened fire. Rosenthal played basketball at Crane Medical Prep High School. His coach there tells the Sun-Times the teen's mother died earlier this year and his father died when he was 6.