WEEK IN REVIEW: At least 21 people die from violence in Chicago, including eight over Mother’s Day weekend

By JEFF MAYES
Chicago Sun-Times Wire

At least 21 people, including four boys 16 and younger, died as a result of violence last week in Chicago. Eight of those died over a Mother’s Day weekend during which more than 50 people were shot, in spite of pleas from women’s and church groups to put down the guns.
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And the number of homicides could go up. The body of woman was in the back of a car in an auto impound lot on the Far South Side on Saturday, and officials have yet to release name of autopsy results.

Mother’s Day did not prove to be a deterrent to violence as many were hoping, with four fatal shootings reported.

A 16-year-old boy was shot to death Sunday afternoon in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. Nathan Hicks, 16, was found in the street about 3:20 p.m. in the 3400 block of West Arthington with multiple gunshot wounds, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4 p.m. He lived in the 4700 block of West Gladys.

A man was killed and a woman injured in a shooting Sunday afternoon in West Garfield Park. Deshawn Thompson, 20, and a 19-year-old woman were sitting on a porch just before 1 p.m. in the 200 block of South Karlov when someone walked up and opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Thompson was shot multiple times and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:45 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the same block as the shooting. The woman was also taken to Mount Sinai with a graze wound to the back, police said.

A 21-year-old man was shot and killed in the Chatham neighborhood Sunday morning. Kourtney Young suffered multiple gunshot wounds about 8:45 a.m. in the 7600 block of South Prairie and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:35 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Young lived in the 7300 block of South King Drive.

A 35-year-old man was shot to death while riding in a vehicle on Lake Shore Drive early Sunday on the North Side. Officers responded at 5 a.m. to a crash in the northbound lanes near Foster, and found Keon Lewis in the back seat with a gunshot wound to the lower back, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Lewis was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he died at 5:46 a.m., authorities said. His home address was unknown. Lewis was riding in the car with two other people when another vehicle pulled alongside and someone inside opened fire, authorities said. He was the only person shot.

A man was found shot to death late Saturday in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side. Officers responding to a call of a person shot about 10:50 p.m. in the 400 block of South Cicero found 27-year-old Najee Williams lying on the sidewalk, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Williams, who lived in the 1000 block of North Austin, was taken to Loretto Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy found he died of a gunshot wound to the back.

A man was shot to death Saturday evening while sitting at his kitchen table in the Archer Heights neighborhood. Andres Rivera, 58, was eating at his table just after 8 p.m. in the 5200 block of South Kolin when shots fired from the street tore through the front door and struck him in the head, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Rivera, who lived in the home, was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:36 p.m., authorities said. A police source said the shooting was possibly gang-related, and Rivera was not he intended target.

Michael Montgomery died Saturday, one day after he was shot in the Chatham neighborhood. The 25-year-old was found by officers lying on the sidewalk in the 8200 block of South Maryland about 12:19 a.m. Friday, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Montgomery, who lived a block away in the 8300 block of South Maryland, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, authorities said. He died at Christ at 3:10 p.m. Saturday. An autopsy found he died of a gunshot wound to the neck.

Carl Handley was found fatally shot in a car early Saturday in Englewood. The 30-year-old was found shot in the chest in a car in the 7400 block of South Union about 1:40 a.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Handley, who lived in the 100 block of East 115th Street, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 2:14 a.m.

A man was killed and two others wounded in a shooting in Greater Grand Crossing on Friday night, police said. The three were outside at a party in the 7600 block of South Maryland about 8:10 p.m. when someone drove past and opened fire, police said.

Terrell Burkhart was shot in the abdomen and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died less than an hour later. Burkhart, 29, lived in the 9200 block of South Dobson, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Another man, 26, was also taken to Christ with a gunshot wound to the hand, police said. The third man, 40, was shot in the back and was taken to Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center. Their conditions were stabilized.

A 46-year-old man died early Friday after being shot Thursday evening in the Chatham neighborhood. Deandre E. Johnson was driving at 7:53 p.m. in the 8400 block of South St. Lawrence when he heard shots and realized he’d been struck in the shoulder, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Johnson, who lived in the 600 block of East 84th Place, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 3:47 a.m. Friday, authorities said.

Sixteen-year-old Eddy Brooks was killed and another teen injured in a shooting Friday morning in Humboldt Park. The boys were sitting on a porch in the 3500 block of West Chicago about 10:30 a.m. when someone walked up and opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Brooks, who lived in the 6300 block of South Morgan, was shot in the head and died less than an hour later at Stroger Hospital. The 17-year-old suffered gunshot wounds to the thigh and calf, police said. He was treated and released after taking himself to a hospital.

Tuesday saw four men fatally shot in the city.

One man was killed and another wounded in a drive-by shooting in Pilsen. The men, ages 43 and 35, were standing on the sidewalk near 18th and Halsted at 11:40 p.m. when a male suspect fired shots from a silver-colored SUV, according to police.

The 43-year-old, identified as Jesus Juarez, was shot in the chest and was dead at the scene at midnight. He lived in the 5400 block of South Luna. The 35-year-old was shot in the left knee and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.

Another man was shot to death in Chicago Lawn. Jeremy Parker, 21, was standing in the street in the 7400 block of South Maplewood about 9 p.m. when someone in a passing vehicle shot him in the chest, authorities said. Parker, of the 7900 block of South Damen, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A third man died Tuesday after he was shot in the Bronzeville neighborhood. At 8:24 p.m., 25-year-old Timothy Hill was standing in the backyard of a home in the 600 block of East Bowen Avenue when another male walked up and opened fire, authorities said. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced died 12:14 a.m. Wednesday, according to the medical examiner’s office. Hill lived in the 500 block of East 40th Street.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday, two men were shot—one fatally—in Austin. The men were sitting on a front porch in the 4900 block of West Monroe at 1:52 p.m. when someone walked up and opened fire, according to police.

Antonio White, 29, was shot twice in the chest and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:37 p.m., according to police and the medical examiner’s office. The other man, an 18-year-old, was shot in the back and right leg, and was taken in serious condition to Stroger, police said.

Monday was also a bloody day, with five more people fatally shot, including the two teenage boys.

A man was shot to death Monday night in the Hermosa neighborhood on the Northwest Side. Robert Rosenau, 28, was standing in front of a residence in the 2000 block of North Pulaski about 10:30 p.m. when someone walked up and shot him several times, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Rosenau, who lived in the 2000 block of North Avers, was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 11:06 p.m., authorities said.

On Thursday, Raul Martinez, 24, was charged with the murder, adding to what police and prosecutors called a long and violent criminal background.

Martinez, who was paroled in January, is a gang member who has been in and out of prison and violated his parole conditions over and over between 2011 and 2016, according to police. He most recently served about half of a three-year prison term for a 2014 conviction for being a felon in possession of a gun, according to police. Martinez has 36 arrests on his rap sheet, police said, and has been convicted of three felonies in the past seven years.

A 16-year-old boy was killed and a 14-year-old boy wounded in a West Englewood neighborhood shooting Monday night. Randle Young, 16, and a younger boy were walking in an alley in the 7100 block of South Laflin about 9:35 p.m. when a male walked up and shot them, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Young suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 10:55 p.m., authorities said. He lived in the 1300 block of West 73rd Street. The younger boy suffered a graze wound to the buttocks and was taken to Saint Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center, where his condition stabilized.

A 14-year-old boy was shot to death Monday evening in Back of the Yards. Leonardo Betancourt was in the back seat of a vehicle going north in the 4500 block of South Ashland at 6:34 p.m. when the other people in the car heard gunshots and realized the boy had been shot in the back, according to police and the pmedical examiner’s office.

The driver took the teen to a firehouse a block north in the 4400 block of South Ashland, authorities said. Betancourt was then taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:34 p.m. He lived in the 4500 block of South Hermitage. It was not immediately known if the teen was the intended target, police said.

A 21-year-old woman was shot to death earlier Monday in the Edgewater neighborhood on the North Side. Karina Soria-Bautista and a man were in a vehicle stopped at a red light in the 5900 block of North Ridge about 12:55 a.m.That’s when a male suspect got out of a gray car nearby and opened fire, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.

Soria-Bautista, of the 4900 block of North Rockwell, was shot in the head and died less than an hour later at a hospital in Evanston, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. A police source said the man sitting in the vehicle’s passenger seat is a documented gang member, but he was not injured.

A fifth man died Monday, two days after he was shot early Saturday in North Lawndale. Willie Pratt, 19, was found shot in the chest, leg and torso about 4:40 a.m. Saturday in the 1800 block of South Central Park, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Pratt, of the 3400 block of West Walnut, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died at 5:29 p.m. Monday.

A 24-year-old man died Wednesday of injuries he suffered in an Avalon Park drive-by shooting in April that also left two others wounded. About 10:45 p.m. April 21, Devan Watson was riding in a vehicle with a 21-year-old woman and 27-year-old man when someone opened fire from another passing vehicle, according to police.

Watson was shot in the head and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital along with the other man, who was shot in the chest and waslisted in critical condition, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Watson was pronounced dead at Northwestern at 3:10 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said. He lived in the 1000 block of East 41st Place.

The woman suffered a graze wound to the right arm and was taken to Jackson Park Hospital. Her condition stabilized, police said.

In what could turn out to be the 20th homicide of the week, the body of a woman was found Saturday afternoon in a vehicle in a South Deering auto pound. The woman was found dead about 3 p.m. inside the vehicle in the City of Chicago auto pound near East 103rd Street and South Doty Avenue, police said.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office had not release the woman’s name, nor disclosed its autopsy results as of Monday afternoon.

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