"He had a different attitude. And I'm not saying he was perfect, but when you ask him to turn his hat to the back or take it off, he wouldn't put it on the back or hang it off his head or say to you, like the other boys do, 'F**k that!' He would just do what you asked," Ameena Matthews said.

Matthews works with Cease Fire, a Chicago, Illinois, grassroots organization founded in 1995 to try to curb gang violence. She grew up in the neighborhood that has drawn national attention since a video captured Albert, a 16-year-old honor student, being beaten to death with a railway tie, kicked and punched by other teens.

Four have been charged. Their ages are 16, 17, 18 and 19. Two went to Christian Fenger Academy High with Albert.

It's unclear who videotaped the savagery.

Matthews is a mediator, which means kids come to her and tell her that a dispute is about to boil over into violence; she picks up the phone and calls the two sides and talks it out.

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