WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 13 people died from violence in Chicago, including a man shot over a year ago

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 13 people died from violence in Chicago last week, including a man who succumbed to gunshot wounds received about a year earlier. Six of the victims died during another bloody weekend across the city.

The latest fatal shootings happened just minutes apart Sunday night on the West and Southwest sides, finishing off a weekend during which more than 40 people were shot.

A 30-year-old man was killed in a shooting in Gage Park. David Caston was found about 8:40 p.m. on the street in the 2400 block of West 58th Street with gunshot wounds to the abdomen, groin and shoulder, Chicago Police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital where he later died.

Moments earlier, 42-year-old James Douthard was shot to death in Austin, according to police. About 8:35 p.m., Douthard was driving in the 1000 block of North Lamon when someone opened fire, striking him repeatedly, police said. His vehicle then crashed into a parked car, and he died at the scene.

Police are investigating whether that shooting was gang-related.

Raul Lagunas was shot to death Sunday morning in Humboldt Park.

The 28-year-old suffered gunshot wounds to the neck and arm about 6 a.m. in the 1500 block of North Avers, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Lagunas, who lived on the same block, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Saturday night, 35-year-old Jorge Vargas was killed in a shooting that also left a woman injured in Brighton Park.

Officers responding to a call of a person shot about 9:30 p.m. in the 4000 block of South Albany found Vargas lying in the street, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Vargas, who lived on the same block where he was found dead, suffered gunshot wounds to the right chest and arm, and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died. The 26-year-old woman was standing on a porch nearby when she suffered a graze wound to the right thigh.

Police suspect the shooting may be gang-related.

Earlier Saturday, a man was shot to death in Garfield Ridge. Leonardo Morales, 34, was shot multiple times about 4:55 a.m. in the 5200 block of South Menard, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Morales, of the 2500 block of South Ridgeway, died at the scene. Witnesses told investigators they heard shots, looked out the window, and saw him lying on the ground, police said.

Cory Fisher was killed and a 16-year-old boy wounded in a West Garfield Park shooting Friday evening.

Fisher, 18, and the boy got into a fight with a third person, who pulled a gun and opened fire at 6:12 p.m. in the 3800 block of West Lexington, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Fisher, of the 3200 block of West Carroll, was shot in the head, and the younger boy was shot in the right shoulder. Both were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where Fisher died 20 minutes later. The teen’s condition was stabilized.

Earlier Friday, a gun battle outside an Austin liquor store left Adriana Reyes dead and two men injured.

Reyes, 20, and the men, ages 18 and 25, were inside a vehicle outside the store near Lake and Cicero at 2:08 a.m. when they got into an argument with someone in another vehicle, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

The 20-year-old man fired shots at the other vehicle, police said. Armed security guards from the store then approached, and the 20-year-old also fired at them. The security guards returned fire, and all three occupants of the vehicle were struck in the exchange of gunfire, police said.

Reyes was shot twice in the head and once in the arm, and died at a hospital. The 25-year-old was struck by a bullet that went through his shoulder and out his cheek, and was in critical condition, police said. The 20-year-old was shot in the hand, and was stabilized.

On Sunday, bond was denied for the two men who were in the car with Reyes, both of whom are charged with murder.

Ronnie Henderson, 18, and Valentine Rodriguez, 25, are charged with murder during a forcible felony, aggravated assault, and aggravated discharge of a firearm.

Police believe a domestic dispute led to man being stabbed to death in Old Town early Friday.

According to police, 48-year-old Michael Lomec was stabbed in the back during a fight about 1:30 a.m. Friday in the 1300 block of North Burling. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

On Sunday, 27-year-old Geno Rhodes was charged with the murder, and ordered held on a $100,000 bond.

Isaac Acevedo Jr. was shot to death early Thursday while sitting in a vehicle in Logan Square.

Acevedo, 23, was inside a vehicle near the intersection of Schubert and Central Park shortly after 1 a.m. when another vehicle pulled alongside and someone inside fired shots at him, police said.

Acevedo, of the 1400 block of North Lorel, was shot in the chest and taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he died, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Dwayne L. Thomas was less than a block from his home in Greater Grand Crossing on Wednesday afternoon when he was shot to death.

Thomas, 20, was shot in the neck in the 7400 block of South Harvard about 1:20 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office

Thomas, who lived on the same block, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died minutes later, according to the medical examiner’s office.

On Saturday, 22-year-old Devonte Watson was charged with first-degree murder for the attack on Thomas. He was being held on a $1 million bond.

William D. Andrews Jr. was killed and a woman wounded in a shooting in West Garfield Park on Monday night.

About 9:30 p.m., police found Andrews, 37, who had been shot several times in the neck and back, on a porch in the 3800 block of West Monroe, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Andrews, of the 5500 block of West Bryn Mawr, was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy revealed he was shot in the back and his death was ruled a homicide.

A short time later, officers found a 34-year-old woman who had been shot in the arm in the 4000 block of West Lake Street, police said. She told officers she had been wounded in the same shooting that left Andrews dead, and had run to avoid being shot again.

She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where her condition was stabilized, police said.

Tavaris Heightie died after he was shot several times in West Garfield Park on Monday night, police said.

About 9:05 p.m., officers responding to reports of a person shot in the 4300 block of West Van Buren found the 32-year-old on a porch with multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

Heightie, who lived in the 5000 block of West North Avenue, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, authorities said.

More than a year after he was shot in South Shore, 19-year-old Richard Miller died Thursday at a west suburban nursing facility

Miller, who was 18 at the time, was walking in the 6900 block of South South Shore Drive about 6:15 p.m. on May 18, 2014, when two suspects began to follow him, according to police. One of the two started firing a gun, striking Miller multiple times.

He was initially taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and on Thursday, died at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, the medical examiner’s office said. An autopsy found he died of complications from the multiple gunshot wounds.

The homicide toll could rise as police continue to investigate the death of a man found with a gunshot wound to the head Wednesday in an apartment in Rogers Park.

The 31-year-old was found dead in the 1100 block of West Morse. His identity had not been released as of Monday afternoon.

An autopsy Thursday was inconclusive as to manner of death, so police are conducting a death investigation to determine whether the shooting was a homicide or suicide.

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