Elliott Brown split his time between Chicago and Los Angeles, working as a road manager for a rap group, according to his family.



He had just bought a new car, a BMW coupe, and planned to ship it to Los Angeles. He was already packed for the trip.



Around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Brown and his girlfriend were riding down the Chicago Skyway, heading for a casino in Indiana, when a black SUV pulled alongside and someone opened fire, according to police.



Brown, 25, died on the scene and his girlfriend, 23, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with a gunshot in the arm, according to Officer Thomas Sweeney, a police spokesman.



Police said the people in both cars had some "contact" before the shooting but did not elaborate. No one was reported in custody Thursday.



Brown's family said he had been a basketball and football standout at De LaSalle Institute high school and graduated in 2008 before attending St. Louis University.



"He was the gem of the whole family," said his grandmother, who did not want to be identified. "I'm really devastated. He was my heart. It doesn't make any sense."



Brown was splitting time between Los Angeles — where the mother of his 5-year-old son, Elijah, was living with the boy — and Chicago. He was working with a cousin in the music business and was serving as a road manager for a rap music group, she said.



He had recently bought the BMW and was driving it to an Indiana casino with his girlfriend when they were shot, the grandmother said. "Someone pulled up on the side and started shooting," the grandmother said. "They never saw the car before."



She suspects the shooters were after the BMW, which he had planned to ship to Los Angeles. "He had his suitcase packed," the grandmother said.