A Denver native and Chicago student who was killed by a stray bullet while riding on Chicago public transit earlier this month is remembered by friends and mentors as a caring, compassionate “ball of light.”

Max Lewis, 20, was in the city for the summer attending the University of Chicago. He was struck in the back of the neck by a bullet that crashed through the window while he was heading home on the Green Line train from an internship.

Max’s family drove 14 hours from Denver to be by his side in the hospital, his mother, Dr. Rebecca Rivkin, told WGN News.

Despite his severe injury and suffering, Rivkin told WGN that Max was alert in the hospital. He wanted to know what happened to him and communicated with his family and doctors by blinking — once for yes, twice for no. That’s how Rivkin said Max spelled out a message on a letter board, which she wrote down. “If I have to live like this, pull the plug please. Seriously,” it said.

He succumbed to his injuries on July 4, three days after the accident. 

The University of Chicago junior was not the intended target, police said, and no suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Friends of Lewis, who studied economics and computer science, described him as a social yet serious student who “loved the grind” of work and school.”

On a GoFundMe page created to help pay for his memorial services, friends described him as “an intelligent, caring, compassionate member of the Chicago community and dear friend to many.”

“He was known amongst friends, peers, and classmates for his kindness, goofiness, grit, impeccable work ethic, and most importantly, his unfailingly genuine soul,” the fundraiser’s organizers wrote. “He will be sorely missed.”

Before uprooting from his hometown for the Windy City, Lewis was a student-athlete, a cross-country and track-and-field runner at the Kent Denver School.

Randall Harrington, the head of schools at Kent Denver, said he taught Lewis physics in the 12th grade. Lewis was always drawn to what he loved, Harrington said, and what he felt was important. 

“He was a delight to work with — committed to the joy of learning, thoughtful, kind toward others and a deep thinker,” Harrington wrote in an email to The Denver Gazette. “He was involved in so many interesting projects as he was always drawn to work that was purposeful. He loved solving problems and went above and beyond in everything he did.”

Graham Reid, director of technology services for Kent, said Max was a tech intern for several years and Graham and his team thought the world of him.

“Max Lewis was a brilliant innovator, budding entrepreneur and incredibly hard worker,” he said in an email. “I had the pleasure of having him as an Information, Innovation and Technology intern, and student for over 4 years, and during that time he was at the forefront of several novel projects and influenced our technology education for the better. His good humor, appreciation of a good meme and passion for technology will be deeply missed. This has been a terrible loss of an enormously kind and genuine person.”

While at the University of Chicago, Lewis was elected president of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish fraternity, despite devoting much of his time to Promontory Investment Research, an organization at the university which helps students research and write reports on their findings. 

His fraternity launched an online campaign to help cover members’ travel costs to funeral services in Denver.

Only a few weeks before the shooting, Lewis had started interning for Segall Bryant & Hamill, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“He was a ball of light. Max would bring his energy like he was in person,” said friend Victoria Gin, referring to the remote meetings the student group conducted during the pandemic. “He would give 120%, and you felt that through the screen.”

Aside from his school work, Lewis loved the outdoors and would frequently go on walks or runs with his friends. 

Lewis’ best friend and roommate, Zach Cogan, said Lewis was not required to go downtown for his internship at an investment firm, but his friend “loved getting to know as many people as he could.” 

“He loved working hard for other people,” Cogan said, “because he was so damn selfless.” 

“This happens all the time in Chicago,” Cogan added. “It needs to end.”

The entire University of Chicago marked the loss of a fellow Maroon.

“Our deepest sympathies are with Max’s family, friends, and all who knew him,” the school wrote in a statement.  “He was a talented student and beloved individual who will be greatly missed.”

The Washington Examiner contributed to the report.