The week just passed saw the fewest number of people murdered in Chicago in nearly four months.
Nine people were homicide victims on that final week in May, and last week, there were 10 killed in the city, nine of them shot and one the victim of an arsonist who started blazes in trash bins and piles, several of which spread to adjacent buildings, in Heart of Chicago.
The final homicide of the week may have been the most shocking, when a pregnant woman was shot while sitting with a man in a car, and doctors had to rush to save her baby, several months premature, after the mother died.
Parasha M. Beard was killed and a man critically wounded in that South Chicago neighborhood shooting on Sunday evening. Shortly after 6 p.m., the 19-year-old was with a 26-year-old man sitting in a car parked in the 8700 block of South Marquette, according to Chicago Police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Another vehicle pulled alongside them and a gunman opened fire, police said. Beard was shot in the neck, and the man suffered gunshot wounds to the neck and chest, police said. Both were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where Beard was pronounced dead, but the baby was delivered and remains in stable condition at Comer Children’s Hospital. The man was also listed in critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
- Two men were shot—one fatally—early Sunday in the Old Town neighborhood. About 4 a.m., the men, ages 20 and 30, were shot when someone walked out of a fast food restaurant and opened fire in the 100 block of West Division, according to police. Both men were shot in the back and were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said. Marquese Fleming, 20, was pronounced dead at the hospital. The 30-year-old man was in serious condition.
- A man was fatally shot early Sunday in the Brainerd neighborhood. Officers responding to a call of shots fired about 2:25 a.m. found Kiev Dobbins, 24, lying in a gangway in the 8900 block of South Laflin. Dobbins was struck multiple times and was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
- Another man was shot to death early Sunday in the Washington Park neighborhood. Stanley Easley, 36, was shot in the head at 1:55 a.m. in the 5100 block of South Indiana when a dark SUV drove up and a male exited, walked up to him and fired a handgun twice, according to police. The shooter then got back into the SUV, which drove away eastbound. Easley was pronounced dead at the scene.
- A fourth man was fatally shot early Sunday, this time in the Gage Park neighborhood, authorities said. About midnight, 20-year-old Tontrice “Tony” Weathersby Jr. was at a party in the 5800 block of South Maplewood Avenue when he got into an argument with a man who showed a handgun and shot him in the chest, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Weathersby, of southwest suburban Evergreen Park, was taken to Holy Cross Hospital and pronounced dead.
- The series of arsons in Heart of Chicago left one man dead and 39 others displaced early. The fires were all set about 3 a.m., according to police. There were “seven total fires, all starting in garbage cans or combustibles near garage walls,” Fire Media Director Larry Langford said.
A man, who remained unidentified as of Tuesday afternoon, was found unresponsive in a garage that was set on fire in the 2100 block of West 21st Street, according to Fire Media. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police classified the death as a homicide.
- A 54-year-old man man was found shot to death Thursday night in Austin. The man, whose name has not been released pending notification of family, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest around 9:20 p.m. in the 5600 block of West Chicago Avenue, according to police.
- A man was shot to death Thursday morning in the West Englewood neighborhood. Shaquille Alexander, 21, was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head at 5:24 a.m. in the 5600 block of South Seeley, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
- An 18-year-old man was fatally shot Wednesday morning in the South Shore neighborhood. The shooting happened at 10:21 a.m. in the 2600 block of East 75th Street, according to police. Alexander Townsend had just crossed the street when a black vehicle drove past and someone inside fired shots, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Townsend was shot in the hand and abdomen, and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
- A man was found shot to death early Monday in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. Police responded to a call of a person shot at 2:14 a.m. and found a man lying in a lot in the 3900 block of West Monroe. Michael Buckner, 33, was shot in the legs, neck and abdomen; and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police and the medical examiner’s office.