Assistant principal, her mom killed by husband outside middle school, IL cops say

The assistant principal of an Illinois middle school was among three people fatally shot outside the school Sept. 16, officials say.

The Berwyn Police Department said the shooting began just after 4 p.m. when officers saw a man “firing a rifle into another vehicle” outside Lincoln Middle School.

Officers were then forced to take cover when the accused shooter began firing at them, police said. No officers were struck.

Three people, including Lincoln Middle School assistant principal Nerissa Lee, were killed in the shooting, according to police.

Lee, a former teacher, had a personality “a lot of teachers don’t have now,” one of her former students told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“She always had a bubbly personality,” 16-year-old Hailey Bedoy said of the 46-year-old victim. “She was very invested in her students... She accomplished a lot, she lived her life and she was a really great human being. And that’s how she should be remembered.”

Police described Lee as “a dedicated educator and leader who touched the lives of countless students and staff members.”

“She would give students extra food if they were still hungry,” another of her former students Ena Laubis told WLS. “She would keep food for students later in the day if they were hungry, and she was just (a) very kind person.”

A second victim was identified as 76-year-old Joycelyn Everage, Lee’s mother, according to WGN.

Lee’s husband, 54-year-old Steven Lee, is accused of opening fire on the vehicle his wife and mother-in-law were in, then he died by suicide, Cook County authorities told WGN.

Issues between the Lees began in June and reached a “boiling point” with the Sept. 16 shooting, Shana Everage, Nerissa Lee’s sister, told WMAQ.

She told WGN her mother had picked up her sister from the middle school “to take her to the police station to file a report” following an incident involving a weapon the previous night.

“They my family, I mean it’s a horrible thing, you know. I have a lot of emotions. I don’t quite know what to feel,” Shana Everage told WMAQ.

School officials called the shooting an isolated incident. The school was closed Sept. 17 and was back in session the next day with counselors available for students and staff.

Berwyn is about a 10-mile drive southwest from downtown Chicago.

This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 9:04 AM with the headline "Assistant principal, her mom killed by husband outside middle school, IL cops say."