Dyanla Rainey and her twin sister, Miyanda, had big plans for the future. The 22-year-olds recently moved to Maywood and were ready to expand their successful day care.
“DeDe and MeMe” have always been a partnership to reckon with. They led Marshall to the Class 2A girls basketball state championship in 2018. DeDe did the scoring and MeMe was a lockdown defender.
Those plans were cut short Sunday afternoon as Dyanla Rainey returned to her home in Maywood, where a gunman fired into her car as she parked in the driveway. Rainey was struck three times in the back. She scrambled out of the car and collapsed on the parkway. She died at Loyola University Medical Center.
Her mother, Margo Rainey, pulled up behind Dyanla as the shooter opened fire.
“I saw her trying to climb out the window. She was trying to get to me and I was trying to get to her,” Margo Rainey said Monday, and dozens of friends and family members crowded the lawn of Dyanla’s home for a prayer vigil.
Maywood Police said officers were dispatched at approximately 2 p.m. for a shots fired call. The officers found a female “lying face down on the grass and immediately initiated life saving measures.” Detectives are investigating the incident. No suspect is in custody, Margo Rainey said Monday.
“Whoever did it, man up and confess,” Margo Rainey said. “I will tell you to your face, I forgive you. God is going to take care of this.”
Dyanla Rainey recently played basketball at Robert Morris and had plans to go back to school. She had roomed with her twin sister, who was planning to get a degree in business to complement her sister, who was going to get a degree in child development.
The sisters had only recently moved to the Maywood house, looking for a larger place to expand their day care business, Miyanda Rainey said at the vigil.
“I don’t what to do or what to think,” she said. “I just want to know who would do this. (Dyanla) didn’t do nothing to nobody.”
Dorothy Gaters, Marshall’s legendary girls basketball coach, says Rainey was one of the most memorable players she coached in her 45 years, gutting out an ankle injury— and worse— while putting up a 20-point performance in the 2018 state title game.
“She had a sprained ankle a few days before the game and was having trouble breathing during it,” Gaters said. “I had to take her out but she came to me and wanted back in, said her team needed her. The next day when we were back in Chicago she went to the hospital with fluid in her lungs.”
That was typical of Dyanla Rainey, said Tyran Patterson, her boyfriend of three years. Rainey was a dogged competitor, diving for loose balls and driving hard at much larger defenders, said Patterson, who drove for hours to be in the stands for nearly every game Rainey played in college.
“She played harder than anybody. On the court, in life, she would never let up,” said Patterson. The couple had begun talking about the future: a trip to Houston for her birthday in October; tour of roller coasters across the nation; a home and a family.
“We were mapping things out. I never thought I would do any of that, have a family,” Patterson said after the vigil Monday evening. “She always wanted you to be the best version of yourself. She will never get to see the man I wanted to become for her.”
Gaters last saw the Rainey twins at Marshall’s alumni barbecue last weekend.
“DeDe set such a great example for the other kids,” Gaters said. “Her character really stood out. She was an exceptional kid. You don’t get kids like that too frequently.”
Chicago Public Schools Sports Director David Rosengard released a statement on Rainey Monday afternoon:
“We are devastated to hear of the passing of Dyanla Rainey. Dyanla was an integral part of the Marshall community and her incredible legacy as a state champion in girls basketball and her impact as a member of the Marshall and CPS family will always be remembered and honored. Our thoughts are with the Rainey family and larger Marshall and CPS community at this time.”
Visitation will take place Monday from 4 to 7 p.m. at Another Chance Cathedral in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. Funeral services are set for 10 a.m. Monday at Miracle Revival Cathedral in Maywood.
