Ohio State Buckeyes star freshman WR Carnell Tate suffered a massive setback in his life on the weekend. Prior to committing to Ohio State, Tate was a five-star recruit and a top-25 national prospect coming out of IMG Academy in Florida. With a promising career ahead of him, Carnell Tate has lost one of his biggest pillars of support.

Tate’s mother has been a constant source of strength and motivation in the 23-year-old’s life. And she has been a key factor in shaping her son’s college football career. But recently, she fell victim to a violent Chicago shocker that took place in the wee hours of Sunday. 

Tate’s mother falls victim to drive-by violence

Earlier during the spring games, Ohio State fans got a glimpse of what they could expect from this 23-year-old freshman. Tate has been one of the hot topics of discussion in the football scene and left fans impressed after hauling in a 37-yard touchdown by catching a pass from Kyle McCord. Now, his future remains uncertain after his mother, Ashley Griggs, fell victim to a drive-by shootout in the early hours of Sunday morning.

According to reports, Griggs and a few other people were leaving an event at around 2:25 am in the 4000 block of West Washington Boulevard near Garfield Park. That is when an unidentified gunman started firing into the crowd of people from a vehicle. And Tate’s mother was one of the victims of the shooting. Five people fell victim to the drive-by. While four others were rushed to the hospital for their injuries, police found Ashley Griggs with multiple gunshot wounds. WGN, later on, cited Chicago community activist Andrew Holmes in reporting that Tate’s mother was the woman who was killed in the unfortunate incident.

Read more: “You Think Nick Saban Would Let Hazing Slip By at Alabama?”: Unacceptable Behaviour by College Athletes Costs Coach Everything He Built for 17 Years and the Trust of Fans

Griggs had a huge impact on her son’s football career and was always with him every step of the way. 

Carnell Tate enjoyed unbiased support from his mother

Ashley Griggs always had a pivotal role in all the career choices that Carnell Tate made. During an interview with the Irish Breakdown, Tate talked about how he initially thought about signing with Notre Dame before committing to Ohio State. He said that his mother “wasn’t really rocking it” during their first visit to Notre Dame. But on their second visit, after the coaches made her feel like her son “would be taken care of”, she started feeling confident about it being the right fit for her son. “She loves Chad Bowden and she likes what Coach Rees had to say”, Tate recalls in the interview. But the top college prospect signed his National Letter of Intent with the Buckeyes in 2022 and joined the program in January 2023.

We offer our sincerest condolences to Carnell Tate and everyone affected by this tragedy and mourn the loss of their loved one.

Watch this story: Deion Sanders and daughter Deiondra’s heartwarming father-daughter moment immortalized in an Instagram