WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 10 people killed in Chicago last week, but shooting of 14-year-old girl called accidental

By JEFF MAYES and JARED LANSMAN
Homicide Watch Chicago

At least 10 people were homicide victims last week in Chicago, including a woman working in the Loop who was shot down by her boyfriend, who then took his own life; and an unborn child killed in a crash, leading to reckless homicide charges.

But the death of a 14-year-old girl, who was shot in the head, was being called accidental by Chicago Police, and a 17-year-old boy was charged with involuntary manslaughter for her death.

The most recent killing happened Sunday evening, when a man and a 16-year-old boy where shot while playing dice in Lawndale.

Jerome Phelps died Sunday night and 16-year-old Caprice McCollum Jr. died Monday at a hospital.

Phelps, 19, and McCollum were playing dice in the 1800 block of South Springfield about 9:45 p.m. when two male suspects approached and fired shots, police said.

Phelps, who lived in the 1800 block of South Ridgeway, was shot multiple times and taken to Stroger hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:26 p.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. McCollum, who was shot in the head, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 4:08 p.m. Monday.

21-year-old Christopher Doyle was shot to death Sunday afternoon in Englewood. The shooting happened at 1:08 p.m. in the 5700 block of South Paulina, according to Chicago Police.

He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 1:52 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy showed he died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Casanova West was shot to death while driving in the East Garfield Park neighborhood early Saturday. The 27-year-old was driving near the intersection of Carroll and Central Park avenues about 2:05 a.m. when he was shot multiple times in the chest, back and arm, police said.

The vehicle he was driving then crashed into a pole in the 300 block of North Central Park. West was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:37 a.m. He lived in the 200 block of North Central Avenue.

Alex Malone died Saturday, one day after being shot in the head Friday night in the West Garfield Park.

The 19-year-old Malone was outside about 6:40 p.m. in the 4100 block of West Wilcox when someone fired shots from a passing minivan, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 2:17 p.m. Saturday, authorities said. Malone had lived the 1600 block of South Spaulding.

Alma B. Hernandez of Tinley Park died when her ex-boyfriend came into the store where she worked downtown Friday afternoon and fatally shot her before turning the gun on himself, police said.

Police converged on the AmeriCash Loans store near Wells and Van Buren just after 2:30 p.m. Friday. Police said the murder-suicide was domestic in nature. The man walked to the rear of the store, shot the woman twice, then walked back to the front of the store and took his own life, police said.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified the dead as 45-year-old Richard Idrovo and the 44-year-old Hernandez, both of the 17700 block of Flannagan Court in Tinley Park.

Ricardo C. Mendez-Bucio was fatally shot in what police are calling a “gang-related attack” Thursday afternoon while sitting in a car at a gas station in Brighton Park.

The 18-year-old was sitting in a vehicle in the 4700 block of South Western at 2:54 p.m. when someone walked up and fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Mendez-Bucio, of the 4500 block of South Paulina, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he died at 3:32 p.m. An autopsy found he died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

On Saturday, 17-year-old Eliseo Acosta was charged with Mendez-Bucio’s murder. The teenager, charged as an adult with first-degree murder, was ordered held without bond Sunday.

Earlier Thursday, Leroy Kelly Jr. was shot to death in Princeton Park. The 30-year-old was found unresponsive about 3:10 a.m. inside a vehicle parked on the 200 block of West 93rd Place, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the face and neck. Kelly, of the 9200 block of South LaSalle, was taken to Trinity Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:34 a.m.

The week’s first fatal shooting occurred late Tuesday, when Marlin J. Dixon III was killed in a drive-by shooting in Altgeld Gardens.

The 20-year-old was walking in the 700 block of East 131st Street at 10:55 p.m. when someone fired shots from a passing SUV, police and the medical examiner’s office said. The SUV then drove off northbound.

Dixon, who lived about a block away in the 13000 block of South Evans, was shot in the face and chest, and died at Roseland Community Hospital.

On Wednesday, a 21-year-old pregnant woman was seriously injured and her unborn child killed in a car crash on the Northwest side.

It happened at 9:30 p.m. when a speeding Honda Accord, which had swerved into oncoming traffic, struck the woman’s parked Mazda Protege in the 6000 block of West Fullerton, police said. The collision made the Mazda jump the curb and strike a tree.

The driver of the Accord, Ramon Marin of the 3000 block of North Natoma, faces one count each of reckless homicide of an unborn child, and aggravated reckless driving, police said. He is being held on a $2 million bond.

The woman and Marin, 23, were taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. The woman remained in serious condition as of Friday night. The unborn child was pronounced dead at 12:10 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.

A 14-year-old girl was fatally shot on Wednesday on the West Side, but police called the shooting accidental, and a 17-year-old boy was charged with involuntary manslaughter for her death.

The teen was charged as a juvenile after Tracy Davis was shot in the head while she and the boy were playing with a handgun Wednesday about 2:15 p.m. in a home in the 700 block of North Homan, according to police. The suspect’s name was withheld because he is a minor.

Davis, of the 4400 block of West Adams, was dead at the scene, and an autopsy was inconclusive, with results pending further investigation. Detectives recovered the weapon, police said; and the teen, who ran way after the shooting, later made arrangements to turn himself in.

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