Chicago — A close client of 26-year-old stylist Gabryel Ayers has come forward with what may be the most haunting clue yet in the investigation into her February 5, 2026, murder on the South Side.
In an exclusive interview with local station WGN on February 10, the client — who asked to be identified only as “Talia” to protect her safety — revealed a text message Ayers sent her at 8:47 a.m. the morning of the shooting. The message read: “Something feels off today. If anything happens, tell my mom I love her and that I tried to do right.” Talia said she initially brushed it off as Ayers being stressed about a big client appointment, but after learning of the fatal ambush hours later, she realized the words were far more ominous.
“I’ll never forget that text,” Talia said, voice trembling. “She was always so upbeat, so full of life. That morning she sounded different — like she knew something was coming. I should have asked more questions. I should have told her to stay home. But I didn’t.”
Ayers was gunned down in broad daylight on a residential street in Englewood while walking home from a morning styling session. Three masked gunmen opened fire from a passing vehicle; Ayers was struck multiple times and died at the scene. The attack was initially described as random or possibly gang-related, but Talia’s revelation — combined with other emerging details — has shifted the investigation toward a targeted hit.
Police confirmed they are treating the text as a potential dying declaration. “It raises serious questions about whether Ms. Ayers had reason to believe she was in danger,” said Detective Commander Maria Garcia of Area 2 Violent Crimes. “We are re-interviewing everyone she spoke with that morning and analyzing her phone for prior threats or suspicious contacts.”
The message has also reignited speculation about Ayers’ recent activism. The stylist was known in Chicago’s South Side for mentoring young women, organizing community beauty events, and speaking out against gun violence and systemic inequities. Friends say she had received anonymous threats after publicly calling out local figures involved in exploitation and trafficking rings targeting vulnerable teens. One associate told reporters: “Gabryel was fearless. She named names in private meetings. She said she wasn’t afraid because she believed in what she was doing. But she started looking over her shoulder more often in the last few weeks.”
The lack of immediate arrests has frustrated the community. Ayers’ family and supporters have held nightly vigils outside the spot where she fell, demanding faster action. A GoFundMe to support her mother and cover funeral costs has raised over $300,000, with donors leaving messages quoting her final text: “She tried to do right. Now we have to do right by her.”
Talia ended her interview with a tearful plea: “If she knew something was coming, she didn’t run. She kept going — to work, to help people, to live her purpose. Whoever did this took more than her life. They took her light. Please, if you know anything, speak up. She would have done the same for you.”
As investigators chase leads — including re-examining CCTV from the area, analyzing Ayers’ social-media activity, and interviewing individuals she had recently confronted — the case has become more than a single murder. It is a stark symbol of the dangers faced by those who speak truth to power in communities already battered by violence.
For Talia and Ayers’ loved ones, the text message is both a final gift and an unbearable weight. “She didn’t say goodbye,” Talia said. “She said ‘I love you’ to her mom through me. She said she tried to do right. That’s who she was. And that’s how I want her remembered.”
The investigation continues. The questions multiply. And in the silence of a South Side street where a young woman once walked with purpose, her final words echo louder than any gunshot: “I tried to do right.”
